President Isaac Herzog was under pressure by chairman of the Histadrut Labor Federation and other leaders from the business sector to perform a "last minute act" before the approval of the law reducing the use of the reasonableness cause, Channel 12 News reported on Tuesday.
According to the report, the President told the officials, "What can I do other than give speeches or resign? What good will it do to let someone else sit in my place?"
He later claimed that, at the last minute, Yair Lapid agreed to reach out for a compromise and showed leadership while Benny Gantz actually toughened his positions.
Alongside this, according to a report in Kan News, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich demanded, ahead of the vote on the reasonableness cause, that the Minister of Justice and the Prime Minister freeze the legislation for a year, citing fear over the security and economic consequences.
Commenting on the report, Smotrich said "the report is false and completely disconnected from reality while in violation of the rules of journalistic ethics, and no request for a comment was even made."