Israelis back on streets after Benjamin Netanyahu rejects judicial compromise

The ruling coalition argues the proposed reforms are necessary to correct a power imbalance between MPs and Israel’s top court.

Benjamin Netanyahu sinks Isaac Herzog’s compromise in Berlin. Picture: Getty Images

Israeli protesters returned to the streets on Thursday to rally against proposed judicial reforms, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a compromise plan touted by the country’s President.

Tens of thousands of Israelis protested across the country.

Since Mr Netanyahu’s government announced the reforms in January, massive demonstrations have regularly taken place across Israel.

President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday presented a proposed compromise on the reforms, but the government immediately rejected it. “Anyone who thinks that a genuine civil war, with human lives, is a line that we could never reach, has no idea what he is talking about,” Mr Herzog said.

Leaders of opposition parties said they supported Mr Herzog’s outline. “The offer is not perfect,” said former prime minister Yair Lapid. “It is not what we wanted, but it is a fair compromise that allows us to live together.”

The ruling coalition argues the proposed reforms are necessary to correct a power imbalance between MPs and Israel’s top court.

Mr Netanyahu called Mr Herzog’s plan a “unilateral compromise”, the “key points” of which “only perpetuate the existing situation and do not bring the ­required balance between the powers”. During a state visit to Germany on Thursday, he said he was “attentive” to the protests against the government’s agenda.

“But we need to bring something that matches the mandate we received” in last year’s elections, Mr Netanyahu said, “and we’ll do so responsibly”.

AFP