‘Failure, surrender’ – Netanyahu admits plan to limit judicial overhaul, drawing criticism from allies

Netanyahu acknowledges that key part of judicial overhaul legislation no longer on the agenda, to the chagrin of his coalition partners.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

Members of the current right-wing coalition have expressed their disappointment and frustration with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after the premier admitted in an interview that he does not plan to advance a key aspect of the overhaul aimed at reforming Israel’s legal system.

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Netanyahu said that the proposed override clause – which would allow the Knesset to nullify Supreme Court decisions via a majority vote of lawmakers – was no longer on the judicial reform agenda.

“It’s out,” Netanyahu told the Journal. He added that he was carefully reviewing the judicial reform legislation and would move to advance only the bills that would be supported by the majority of voters.

He stressed to the outlet that he is “attentive to the public pulse, and to what I think will pass muster.”

Netanyahu’s comments immediately sparked backlash from members of his government, who told Hebrew-language media that they viewed his remarks as admitting defeat in the face of ongoing anti-overhaul demonstrations.

“The reform is dead. [Netanyahu] is simply surrendering,” a senior coalition lawmaker, speaking anonymously, told Channel 12 News.

“The interview is a very big disappointment, a failure,” another lawmaker said, according to an Arutz Sheva report.

“After seven months, we were left with a minimal [reform]. This is the opposite of what was promised to the voter.”

MK Tali Gottlieb accused Netanyahu of “stopping [Justice Minister Yariv] Levin’s reform and reducing it to an embarrassingly small trickle.”

She added that “all that’s left of the reform are remnants of it. It’s basically nothing at all.”

Jerusalem Minister Meir Porush of the United Torah Judaism party said in a media statement that the override clause was non-negotiable for his faction.

Porush emphasized that the override clause was part of three essential promises Netanayau had made in exchange for the party joining the coalition.

“Any other agreement is not acceptable to us,” Porush said.