Sharren Haskel
Sharren HaskelIsrael National News

MK Sharren Haskel (National Unity Party) spoke to Israel National News on Thursday and commented on an initiative of MKs Yuli Edelstein, Gadi Eizenkot, Hili Tropper and Danny Danon, who called for the promotion of dialogue on the judicial reform that would take place at the President's Residence.

"I was happy that there are finally responsible adults in the Likud, like Danon and Edelstein, who took a brave initiative and realized that there is an unusual situation in the State of Israel of a huge rift that will take us years to fix - and they say there is no reason not to stop the legislation of the judicial reform and hold discussions for a week or two in order to reach agreements," said Haskel, who added she believes more participants from the side of the Likud will join the initiative.

"I see other MKs in the Likud who feel uncomfortable with what is happening right now. In the end, they can brand this protest as a protest of anarchist leftists and traitors, but it is a popular protest that comes from a place of purity and deep concern for the state and the people of Israel. There are family members, nephews and brothers of many MKs from the Likud itself taking part in the protest," she said.

Haskel said there is an obligation to stop the legislation in order to talk and the coming week is an opportunity to do so. "If there is a week in which the legislation does not progress because of Purim, that is the time to stop the legislative process, and sit down to discuss a compromise. Likud should be the adult in charge. They are in power and they have the power. We do not have the power to stop the demonstrations, but it is clear that if we sit down and negotiate about the judicial reform, the spirit of the demonstrations will begin to fade naturally."

"But while we are still interested in sitting down and talking and stopping the rift in the people of Israel, Yariv Levin is accelerating the legislation and says he wants to finish the first phase of the reform before Passover. So what is there to talk about? If they really want dialogue, then where is the compromise?" she wondered.

MK Haskel stated that her party would not wait for others and will lead negotiations if the other side is willing to do so. "We understand that there may be some extremism, like Yesh Atid that wants to stop the legislation for two months or all kinds of conditions, but we are practical. If they stop the legislation, even in a situation where Yesh Atid and Labor will come with additional demands and do not want to sit down, we will come to the table to negotiate."

Haskel did not like, to put it mildly, the images of the protesters who besieged the salon where Sara Netanyahu, wife of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was getting her haircut. "That is unfortunate. It is forbidden to take it to a personal level. In the last year we have seen a very serious deterioration and personal harm to the families of elected officials. Family members should not be attacked on a personal level and in general, there should not be violence against anyone. A protest should also have its limits and red lines should not be crossed."

She was asked whether the roadblocks set up by protesters are legitimate in her view and replied, "I have always said that, in my view, blocking roads or trains is illegal. As long as the legitimate demonstrations are diverted in the direction of provocateurs who are trying to derail the protest - the demonstrations will ultimately serve Levin and Rothman and not our cause."