Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee Chairman MK Simcha Rothman offered a surprising perspective on the events surrounding the judicial reform. Despite being portrayed as someone unwilling to compromise, Rothman argued that the reality was the opposite, saying: “I was willing to give up 100% of the reform that I believe the State of Israel needs in order to reach broad consensus."
During an interview on the “Hatzaytzanim" podcast hosted by Akiva Novick and broadcast on the “Mashav" channel of the Tzohar Rabbinical Organization, Rothman discussed a compromise proposal brought to him by former minister Izhar Shay, a member of Benny Gantz’s party, along with former IDF Chief of Staff Dani Shai.
Rothman said he agreed to the proposal because he believed that “a smaller reform achieved through agreement is certainly preferable to getting 100% of what you want." However, he claimed that once the initiative began moving forward, Gantz’s party became alarmed by the possibility of reaching an agreement.
“As soon as they saw that it was real, that it was moving forward, and that it could actually bring about a change that would finally break the absolute veto held by the court… they reversed course," Rothman said.
He claimed that opponents of the compromise began attacking those involved, including a bereaved father and Shay himself. “They drove him away," he said. Rothman added sarcastically: “The moment you say, ‘Let’s agree,’ they say, ‘Okay, now stop.’"
Alongside his criticism of the opposition, Rothman also acknowledged mistakes in the way the legislation was handled, pointing to what he described as one of his major errors.
“One of the biggest mistakes was that I agreed to focus only on the reform during the first year and not do other things simultaneously," he said.
According to Rothman, the strategy may have served him politically and in the media, but it also intensified public anger. “We could have come and said: Two days a week we deal with the reform, and on the other days we focus on additional issues. That really could have lowered the flames," he said.
“The feeling that we were charging forward and dealing only with this from morning until night created a sense of a coup," Rothman added.
In keeping with the podcast’s emphasis on dialogue and reconciliation, Rothman also discussed the personal and social cost of that period, including the rift with longtime friends from the political left.
“There were people who had known me for many years, who had sat with me and drunk beer… and when they realized we had won the election, they looked at me with faces full of hatred and said, ‘I will fight you,’ even before I had done anything," he said.
The interview also addressed former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked. Rothman described the unusual working relationship between them during the Bennett-Lapid government.
“I feel betrayed on a level that is beyond belief," he said. “Every conversation between us started with 10 minutes of mutual shouting… We would shout for 10 minutes, and then say: ‘Okay, we’re done shouting, now we start working.’"
At the same time, Rothman sharply criticized Shaked’s approach as justice minister. He argued that although she appointed what he called “weak conservative" judges, she harmed oversight mechanisms over the State Attorney’s Office.
“Because of her desire to work well with the system, she moved the system backward," Rothman said. “So she worked well with the system - but for the system."