Justice Minister Yariv Levin on Sunday shrugged off calls to slow the advance of his controversial legal overhaul proposals, even as President Isaac Herzog joined those saying legislation should be halted in order to allow negotiations for a broadly agreed-upon reform.
Speaking to Channel 13, Levin said legislation would not be halted “even for a minute.”
After the interview aired, Herzog reiterated his calls to calm public discourse around the plans.
“The debate is heating up to dangerous places and I call from here on all those involved in the disagreement: stop a moment, breathe,” the president said.
“Stop the whole process for a moment, take a deep breath, allow dialogue to take place, because there is a huge majority of the nation that wants dialogue.”
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Channel 13 reported last week that Supreme Court Justice Esther Hayut had urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pause the plans and allow a mediation process. He was said to refuse.
Despite growing pressure, Levin told Channel 13: “The legislation won’t be frozen for even a minute.”
The coalition led by Netanyahu has been pushing a dramatic overhaul that would increase government control over the judiciary, allow it to override court decisions with the barest majority, and give it full power over judicial appointments.
Critics say that along with other planned legislation, the sweeping reforms will impact Israel’s democratic character by upsetting its system of checks and balances, granting almost complete power to the executive branch, and leaving individual rights unprotected and minorities undefended.
Turning his attention to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who on Thursday published a searing position paper saying Levin’s reforms would “fundamentally change the democratic nature of the state’s governance,” the justice minister dismissed the document, claiming its contentions “don’t hold water.”
“To my disappointment, I received… a booklet that doesn’t hold water. Really, the attorney general did exactly what we object to — instead of advising, she decided that the reform was unacceptable to her and shot it down.”
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara speaks during a legal conference in Haifa on January 12, 2023. (Shir Torem/ Flash90)
Trying to put “spokes in our wheels won’t help,” said Levin, adding that “the reforms are fundamental, affecting the important elements of a democratic regime.”
Levin stated that he was open to discussions and certain compromises on the proposals, but that there was not “a single responsible MK in the opposition” with whom to hold talks.
He also insisted that any discussion on the proposals should be conducted in the Knesset, in full view of the public, and not behind closed doors. “It would be unacceptable.”
Levin also addressed reports from last week — which the attorney general has denied — that Baharav-Miara was considering ordering Netanyahu to step down over a potential conflict of interest between his government’s legal reforms and the prime minister’s ongoing graft trials.
Levin told Channel 13 the move would represent an “abyss like no other. It’s the seizure of power by force, there’s no other way to say it.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leads a government conference at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem on January 29, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
“There were elections and Netanyahu was elected to head the government. Asking him to take a leave of absence won’t happen, it’s a threat that won’t happen. There’s no difference between that and pointing tanks at the Prime Minister’s Office.”
Following the reports, the heads of the coalition parties wrote a letter to the attorney general, warning her that such a move would be tantamount to a coup.
“An attempt to declare or announce such a move for an incumbent leader is a clearly illegal attempt to depose and overthrow an elected and legal government, without an iota of justification by the law,” the letter warned.
