6 | APRIL 6 • 2023
1942 - 2023
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PURELY COMMENTARY
analysis
Netanyahu
Announces Pause
on Judiciary Reform
P
rime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu announced
that he would postpone
a vote on far-reaching reforms
to the judiciary
and engage in
dialogue with
the opposition,
yielding to calls
from hundreds of
thousands of pro-
testers as well as
senior members
of his own party and interna-
tional leaders.
In his televised address,
Netanyahu cited fears of civil
war, which Israeli President
Isaac Herzog had also warned
of weeks ago.
“I am not ready to tear the
people into shreds,
” Netanyahu
said March 27 in remarks
broadcast just past 8 p.m. Israel
time. “We are not facing ene-
mies but brothers. I am saying
now and here, there must not
be a civil war.
”
He added, “I have decided
to delay the second and third
readings of the legislation until
the Knesset reconvenes” rough-
ly a month from now, at the
end of April, though it could
begin later. He said the break
— which includes the Jewish
and Israeli holidays of Passover,
Holocaust Remembrance
Day, Memorial Day and
Independence Day — would be
devoted to dialogue.
Netanyahu’s announcement
marks a significant victory
for opponents of the judicial
reform and heralds a new stage
in the months-long debate
over the legislation which, as
written, would sap the Supreme
Court of much of its power and
independence. As it stands, the
legislation substantially increas-
es government control over
Supreme Court appointments
and essentially removes the
court’s ability to review laws.
That version of the legislation
will almost certainly not pass
now, and leaders of a strike
called on March 27 to protest
the reforms called it off imme-
diately after Netanyahu’s speech.
The legislation has been
controversial ever since it was
unveiled near the beginning
of the year, just weeks after
Netanyahu’s right-wing coali-
tion took office. For months,
hundreds of thousands of
Israelis have taken to the streets
to oppose the proposals, and
their calls were joined by a cho-
rus of public figures, in Israel
and abroad, who warned that
the overhaul would remove
Ron
Kampeas
(JTA)
JAMAL AWAD/FLASH90
Israelis protest against the government’s planned judicial overhaul,
outside the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, March 27, 2023.
continued on page 9