Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the Israeli government's planned judicial reforms during an interview with ABC News today (Thursday), calling it a "minor correction" to Israel's activist court.
Speaking with George Stephanopoulos on 'Good Morning America,' Netanyahu said that the reforms are "described as the end of Israeli democracy -- I think that's silly and when the dust settles, everybody will see it."
"We had to restore Israeli democracy to its position on par with other democracies. The essence of democracy is the balance between the will of the majority and the rights of the minority, and this is achieved through the principle of separation of powers. This balance has been violated during the last 20 years, because we have the most activist court on Earth," he said.
Addressing the passage of the 'Reasonableness Standard' bill earlier this week, Netanyahu said that "we're trying to fix it. I want to shift the pendulum to the center, not to the extreme on the other side. That's why we're doing it. It's a minor correction and I think it's stupid to say that it's the end of Israeli democracy. By the way, many members of the Knesset in the opposition supported this before the elections. Now they do not support the amendment just for political reasons."
"I pressed the 'stop' button for three months to get some sort of compromise from the opposition and I didn't get it from them. I don't think the arguments are real, but I think the concerns are real, because people are afraid. I understand them," he said.
Later in the interview, Netanyahu stated that US President Joe Biden has invited him to the White House for a meeting this fall, possibly as early as September.