Justice Minister Yariv Levin is engaged in ongoing talks with Ra’am chair Mansour Abbas in a bid to garner his support for the government’s judicial overhaul as a “safety net,” in case ongoing negotiations at the President’s Residence do not produce a compromise reform package, according to a report Thursday evening.
While Likud, with its 64-seat majority in the 120-seat Knesset, has insisted it could resume the legislation if talks fail, some lawmakers in the party have stressed the need for a broad agreement on the legislation, and it is unclear that the coalition has the votes necessary to pass the proposals in their original form if talks collapse.
Channel 12 news, in an unsourced report, said that Levin has attempted to lure Ra’am with funding and specific assistance to the Arab community in exchange for its backing.
The Arab leader is nominally a part of the opposition bloc, and has been the target of consistent and harsh attacks by Likud and the right since joining the so-called change government in 2021, with the party and its supporters routinely referring to the party as “terror supporters” and allies of the Muslim Brotherhood. But Abbas has always espoused realpolitik and has repeatedly expressed openness to strange bedfellows if it can benefit his constituents.
And indeed, Channel 12 said Abbas has not ruled out cooperation with Likud — but is unsatisfied with under-the-table talks, which were said to include an offer by Levin to have Ra’am exert some unspecified influence on judicial appointments. (It bears mention that the danger of judicial selection becoming a matter for backroom dealings is a key rallying call for the anti-overhaul protest movement.)
The approval this week by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation — chaired by Levin — of a bill to establish a new hospital in the northern Arab city of Sakhnin was a gesture of goodwill to Abbas, according to the report.
But the Ra’am leader was reported to be demanding that any cooperation be predicated on the government giving the Arab community meaningful tools to deal with soaring violent crime, as well as that the party cease its delegitimization of his party.
The network noted that there does not seem to be progress between the sides at this time.
Both parties denied the reports, with Ra’am stressing it believed in a “broad agreement” on any judicial reforms.
Ra’am made history in 2021 when it became the first Arab party in decades to join a governing coalition. Abbas said he was first courted by Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu to join a coalition under his leadership, but after joining Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid’s government, Likud repeatedly denounced Ra’am as terror supporters — though Netanyahu is reported to have offered Ra’am extensive concessions himself.
File: Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid (L), Yamina leader Naftali Bennett (C) and Ra’am leader Mansour Abbas sign a coalition agreement on June 2, 2021. (Courtesy of Ra’am)
Netanyahu paused the judicial legislation at the end of the previous Knesset session a month ago, saying he was doing so to allow time for talks, amid countrywide protests by hundreds of thousands of Israelis who said the legislation would destroy Israeli democracy by removing critical checks on the power of the executive.
President Isaac Herzog’s office said on Thursday that the first round of negotiations over the judicial overhaul has been completed, following a meeting between representatives of the coalition, and Yesh Atid and National Unity parties.
Protests against the overhaul have continued throughout the past month nonetheless, while government supporters also held a massive rally in Jerusalem last week.
As it stands, the coalition has proposed to bring most judicial appointments under government control and curb the oversight powers of the High Court of Justice.
Critics say the overhaul will sap the High Court of Justice of its power to act as a check and balance against parliament, dangerously eroding Israel’s democratic character. Supporters say the legislation is needed to rein in what they see as an over-intrusive court system.
Analysts and commentators believe the coalition will not advance any of the legislation until the passage of the state budget, which the ruling bloc must do by May 29 or face automatic elections.
