Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bypassed Justice Minister Yariv Levin and ordered the coalition negotiations team discussing the Government's judicial reform plan with opposition representatives at the President's residence to offer a compromise.
According to a report by Mati Tochfeld in Israel Hayom, in recent days, Netanyahu understood that the chances of coming to a consensus on specific issues were slim, at least as long as Gideon Sa'ar (National Unity) was around, and ordered the negotiations team to propose offers on other issues, including the volatile one: the makeup of the Judicial Selection Committee.
According to the compromise offered to the opposition, the committee would consist of 11 members: five from the coalition, five from the opposition, and a retired judge that would serve as a deciding vote and would be appointed by the Justice Minister. This varies from the current committee, which consists of nine members: Three justices (the President of the Supreme Court and two Supreme Court justices), two government ministers (including the Minister of Justice), two Knesset members, and two representatives of the Israel Bar Association.
According to the original reform plan, the committee would have consisted of nine members, namely: The Supreme Court President, along with two retired justices to be appointed by the Minister of Justice, with the consent of the Supreme Court President; the Minister of Justice and two additional ministers to be designated by the Government; and three Members of Knesset, consisting of the chair of the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee and two additional MKs, one from the coalition factions and one from the opposition factions, as will be stipulated by law. The Minister of Justice will chair the Judges Selection Committee. The necessary majority for appointing judges to the Supreme Court will be five committee members (versus seven until today).
The offer constitutes a far-reaching concession and would probably not change the reality in the Supreme Court in coming years, but it is the current offer. It was proposed during discussions at the President's residence without passing the Justice Minister. That is, Yariv Levin did not know that the offer was made, and even more so, he objects to it.
Luckily for Levin, chances are that this offer, like the others, would be turned down by the opposition. Even if he stays in his position, along with Netanyahu, the distance between the two seems enclosable.
The Prime Minister refuses to say what he would do if the opposition were to pull out of the talks. He claims he is keeping quiet so he would not be blamed for causing the opposition members to leave after proverbially putting a gun to their heads. Levin's circle says that Netanyahu's lack of commitment is a sign that he is looking for a way out of the reform, or at least part of it.