Yair Lapid
Yair LapidDanny Shem Tov/Knesset spokesperson

Opposition leader and Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid gave a speech in the Knesset plenum on Sunday evening, in which he called for an immediate halt to the legislation of the judicial reform in order to sit down for negotiations.

"The Prime Minister opened the cabinet meeting today and called on the opposition to come to negotiations and put its own proposal on the table. This is, of course, trickery and total deception. If you want negotiations and to hear proposals, what are we doing here? Why are we in the plenum on Sunday? I have been a member of the Knesset for 11 years, and I do not remember anything like this. If you want negotiations, why did the Constitution Committee sit all morning and fly ahead with the legislation? This is not legislation - it is a deletion. You are deleting Israeli democracy," Lapid claimed.

He added that he has his own proposal for Netanyahu. "The Prime Minister wants us to put a proposal on the table? Here is a proposal: Stop the legislation, now, today, before the vote. Instead of voting, we will go to the President’s Residence, we will announce that we are staying there until the State of Israel has a constitution. Instead of the destructive, anti-democratic set of laws that you brought forward, instead of the terrible crisis you are bringing upon us - we will together bring forward a document that will unite the people of Israel."

"You wanted a proposal, here is a proposal. Instead of the Deri Law 3, instead of the Incapacitation Law, instead of the Donations Law, instead of the Chametz Law, instead of a Judicial Selection Committee that becomes a committee for selecting associates, instead of trampling the Supreme Court, we will have real values, which will unite this country and the people. If you don't stop the legislation and go for it - you don't want negotiations. You want to deceive the entire world as always. To pretend that you are calling for negotiations while you fly ahead with the legislation. Explain one thing to me: What is so urgent for you? Why the panic? Why are you running full speed like that? What is the big hysteria?" wondered Lapid.

"If this was really a judicial reform as you claim, you would have done it completely differently. You would have brought economists in advance to explain how it would affect the economy. Instead, you are surprised that the shekel is falling, surprised that money is being taken out of the country, surprised by the crisis you caused in the industry. You know why you are surprised? Because you didn't check. If this was really a judicial reform, you would have devoted the entire last month to discussions on the impact of the legislation on national security. On international lawsuits against IDF soldiers. On relations with the United States.On the reservists," he continued.

"You didn't bother. Everything is rushed, everything is messy, and then you are shocked that pilots are not prepared to report for reserve duty, shocked that the cyber units are emptying. If you bothered to do an orderly job - you wouldn't be so shocked. You are running forward because what really interests you is not only this crazy legislation, but all the things it will allow you right after it passes: Religious coercion, forcing working people to finance people who don't work, harming women and LGBT people, annexing territories and robbing the public coffers. These are your real goals.If this is not true, if you still care about the people of Israel, stop the legislation, and tomorrow we will go to the President to start working on a constitution for Israel based on the Declaration of Independence," he concluded.