Rabbi Moshe Lichtenstein
Rabbi Moshe LichtensteinEliyahu Yanai

75 rabbis and female religious leaders from the Religious-Zionist community called on all sides to accept the proposal of President Isaac Herzog to mediate a negotiated solution to the dispute over the government's planned judicial reforms.

The signatories to the joint statement supporting President Herzog's proposal include:

Rabbi Moshe Lichtenstein, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion; Rabbi Ohad Teharlev; Rabbanit Malka Puterkovsky; Rabbi Meir Nehorai, the head of the Beit Hillel organization; Rabbi David Stav, chairman of the Tzohar Rabbinical Organization; and former Education Minister Rabbi Shai Piron.

The letter reads: "We, the undersigned, call on the MKs from all Knesset factions to immediately open a dialogue in the spirit of President Herzog's appeal, and to allow for this dialogue to be fully exhausted.

"The changes are required to restore the balance between the legislative branch and the executive branch relative to the judiciary, and to strengthen the people's trust in the State's institutions," they added, warning that passing major judicial reforms without a broad consensus could cause a "schism" within the people of Israel.