Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar (Likud) told Channel 12 News in an interview on Friday that if no agreements are reached, the government will advance the judicial reform unilaterally.
Zohar stated that passing the judicial reform is just as important to the public and the government as reducing the cost of living.
Commenting on the “million-man demonstration” in favor of the reform, which took place in Jerusalem on Thursday night and in which he participated, Zohar said it was "our first moment of comfort as a camp since the elections".
At the same time, the minister said that the demonstrators who trampled on huge signs with the images of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and the President of the Supreme Court Esther Hayut "made a serious mistake and harmed the success of the demonstration".
Minister Zohar repeated his argument that those in the Israeli public who oppose the judicial reform are afraid of it because the government "did not explain it well", and that half of the public voted in favor of it in the elections.
"The reform is not intended to harm anything, but only to do good for the State of Israel," stated Zohar. "It must happen, the right-wing public was promised a reform and that's what they want."
The Culture and Sports Minister also said that the government's desire is to reach agreements as part of the talks that are currently taking place at the President's Residence, but not at any cost.
"If we do not promote the reform, we will have lost our public, and if we continue without agreements, we will lose the other side who will continue the protest," Zohar said, but also stressed: "We will promote the reform unilaterally if we do not reach agreements."
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)