Negotiations begin
Negotiations beginYossi Zeliger Yonatan Sindel, Flash 90 Haim Tzach, GPO

The Yesh Atid party stated following the first round of negotiations on the judicial reforms at the President's Residence this evening (Tuesday) that its negotiating team called for "significant reforms" during the meeting, including the creation of a constitution for the State of Israel.

“We told the president that in the 75th year of the State of Israel, we can make a real change — not just cosmetic fixes, but a widely agreed upon constitution based on the values of the Declaration of Independence,” the delegation said in a statement.

The delegation also stated that it "seeks a broad consensus of public representatives to reflect a national consensus of the citizens of Israel.”

The Yesh Atid delegation met with delegations from the Likud and National Unity parties at 7:30 pm Tuesday evening at the President's Residence The delegation was comprised of MK Orna Barbivay, MK Karin Elharar, a former director of the Prime Minister's Office, Naama Shultz, and attorney Oded Gazit.

The National Unity party negotiating team consisted of MK Gideon Sa'ar, MK Yehiel Tropper, MK Orit Farkash-Hacohen, and attorney Ronen Aviani.

The Likud party's negotiating team consisted of Minister Ron Dermer, government secretary Yossi Fuchs, and Dr. Aviad Bakshi, the director of the legal department in the Kohelet Policy Forum.

The President's Office said that the meeting lasted an hour and a half and was "conducted in a positive spirit."

President Herzog will meet with negotiating teams from the other political parties later this week. Tomorrow he will meet with representatives of the Labor and Yisrael Beytenu parties.

The negotiations began after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced last night (Monday) that the judicial reform legislation would be frozen until the Knesset's summer session.