At least 14 opposition lawmakers were ejected from a stormy Knesset committee meeting on advancing some of the legislation that makes up the contentious judicial overhaul on Monday, even as far-right MK Simcha Rothman, a key architect of the plan, indicated a willingness for talks.
Rothman, chair of the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, opened the session by praising President Isaac Herzog’s call for compromise a day earlier, and claimed that the gaps between the two sides were not insurmountably wide.
“I welcome the initiative of the president to hold a real dialogue that will deal with ways to correct the judicial system and to restore the relationship between it and the various government authorities,” said Rothman.
“The gaps that exist between the president’s opening outline and the drafts of the bill I submitted, or the outline presented by minister [Yariv] Levin, are not negligible, but they are not large either,” said the Religious Zionism MK, who a day earlier insisted that the parties “can hold talks [later] between the first plenary reading and the second and third.”
Nevertheless, he pressed ahead with the legislative process.
The proposed overhaul would impose sweeping changes to the legal and judicial systems, almost entirely eradicate the High Court of Justice’s power of judicial review, and give the government an automatic majority on the Judicial Selection Committee.
But the opposition was in combat mode inside the Knesset and with thousands of demonstrators gathering outside.
The committee meeting opened with opposition lawmakers singing “Ein Li Eretz Aheret” — “I Have No Other Land” — and banging on the table.
Constitutional Committee hearings open with the opposition’s song – “I have no other country” pic.twitter.com/85hhY66TBN
— Daphna Liel (@DaphnaLiel) February 13, 2023
Written in 1982 when a right-wing Likud government was waging a controversial war in Lebanon, the song features a pledge to “not remain silent and sing” to a country that “has changed her face.” Composer Ehud Manor’s widow, Ofra Fuchs, said in 2015 that it was intended as a left-wing protest song.
The committee meeting then quickly descended into a shouting match, with opposition lawmakers shouting “Shame!” at Rothman. At least 14 of them were then removed from the room for disrupting proceedings.
While proceedings began at the Knesset, tens of thousands of protesters were making their way to Jerusalem as part of a nationwide strike and demonstration.
Demonstrators briefly blocked the entrance to Ben Gurion Airport, and children and parents blocked the Namir Road thoroughfare in north Tel Aviv.
MK Simcha Rothman (C) at the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee meeting at the Knesset on February 13, 2023 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Herzog issued an earnest plea on Sunday for deliberation and compromise on the coalition’s contentious plans to radically overhaul the judiciary.
The proposals have generated intense opposition from various quarters of Israeli society and have led to mass weekly demonstrations in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and other cities.
The coalition, headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, indicated that while it would not delay Monday’s committee votes on advancing the bills, it would wait a week before bringing them to a first vote in the plenum, instead of doing so immediately.
It signaled it was doing so to allow for the possibility of talks with opponents of the judicial shakeup.
After the president presented a five-point plan as a general basis for a compromise agreement, Channel 12 news cited a “very senior coalition source” as saying: “If the heads of the opposition and Supreme Court president announce their agreement to hold discussions based on the president’s principles, they will find partners in the government with open hearts and willingness.”
Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who is spearheading the effort for sweeping limitations on the court’s powers, said some elements of the president’s proposal “are positive,” while others “perpetuate the existing, faulty situation.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (center), with Justice Minister Yariv Levin at his side, chairs the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Feb. 12, 2023. (Amit Shabi / Pool)
Opposition leader Yair Lapid said after the president’s speech that Herzog’s offer was “proper.” Until the coalition accepts it, he said, “the fight will not stop, the protest will not stop.”
National Unity party leader Benny Gantz, also in the opposition, offered support “for the president and his important comments.” He said he and his party were prepared “for talks to reach an agreement on a true reform that will keep the justice system “apolitical and independent.”
His deputy in the party, former justice minister Gideon Sa’ar, said the president’s proposal was “a fair basis for talks,” adding that “the condition for honest and real discussion is to immediately stop the legislation.”
Protest leaders also welcomed Herzog’s proposals and lauded “the president’s speech that came from the depths of his heart, as he understands the depth of the crisis a dictatorship will bring.” They vowed to continue to take action until the government “announces it is entirely removing the threat of destroying Zionism and democracy.”
Parents and children block Tel Aviv’s Namir Road thoroughfare during protests and a nationwide strike against the judicial overhaul, February 13, 2023 (Courtesy)
The heads of top Israeli banks including Hapoalim Bank, Bank Leumi, Discount Bank, and Mizrahi-Tefahot issued a joint statement supporting the president’s call for judicial change “through deliberation and broad national agreement that will maintain unity and ensure and Jewish and democratic Israel and a thriving economy.”
Histadrut labor federation chair Arnon Bar-David called on “all Israeli citizens to unite behind the president’s words.
“The story of our life in the country for which we yearned for 2,000 years was written in toil, sweat, pain and determination, but more than everything, it was enabled by our unity as a society. There are no winners and losers here. Let’s stop before the political rift tears Israeli society apart,” said Bar-David.
But Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi of Likud quickly rejected Herzog’s overtures.
He said that under the previous “fraudulent” government, “when they defied and defiled systems [of God]I did not hear anyone offer compromise.”
“When Torah students were persecuted,” he said, possibly in reference to cuts to childcare subsidies, “when they trampled over Likud supporters, over tradition, over Zionism, there was no call for talks.”
Karhi said “hypocrisy is the name of the game and we’re done taking part in it. The reforms should move forward with full force.”