Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Bloomberg in an interview on Sunday that he would not pursue the entire judicial overhaul originally planned by his government, working only to change the makeup of the Judicial Selection Committee.
“That’s basically what’s left — because other things I think we should not legislate,” Netanyahu said. Asked about his next move, he replied “it would probably be about the composition of the committee that elects judges.”
Netanyahu said he wanted to avoid extremes - either “the most activist judicial court on the planet” or a legislature that can “just knock out any decision that the court makes.”
“There has to be a balance. That’s what we’re trying to restore,” he told Bloomberg.
Netanyahu stressed that his government wants to negotiate with the opposition and reach a compromise on the judicial reform during the next two months when the Knesset is in recess.
“I hope that we don’t get into a constitutional crisis,” Netanyahu said. “I think we won’t. I think there’s a way of reaching an equitable compromise, which is what I’m trying to do now.”
The Prime Minister brushed aside some of the more incendiary comments made by members of his coalition as being outside his control while dismissing concerns that democracy is under threat.
“It’s nonsense in my view,” he said. “It’s not nonsense in their view. They’re generally concerned. And I think there’s a happy middle ground there.”
The Yesh Atid party responded to Netanyahu's comments in the interview, saying, "We advise Netanyahu not to lie either in English or in Hebrew. He does not have broad support, nor does he have support in the Likud. The Prime Minister in yet another show of lies and weakness."