Israeli President Herzog's Judicial Compromise Draft Slammed on Both Sides

Israel’s President Isaac Herzog on Monday gathered about 100 local municipal officials to discuss an outline for negotiations regarding the judicial reform, a draft of which was later leaked to the press and slammed by members of the coalition and the opposition alike.

According to Herzog, the two sides were closer to ever to coming to an agreement, and the compromise offer he was working on together with a panel of legal experts, “gives answers to both sides.” He continued:

It includes diversity of the judiciary and extensive reflection of the defenders of opinions and communities.

It lays down important and historical constitutional foundations, it anchors a healthy structure of balance between the authorities, it protects democracy and human rights at all costs, and on the independence of the judicial system. It protects the minorities and protects the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state based on the principles of the Declaration of Independence.

According to the compromise, the most contentious issue was the restructure of justices, in which the elected government would have far more influence over the selection of High Court judges. Herzog’s compromise would not allow the ruling coalition to have an “automatic majority” on the selection committee.

His compromise also nixes the so-called override clause proposed by Justice Minister Yariv Levin, which would enable the Knesset to re-legislate laws that the Supreme Court had struck down, pending a slim 61-MK majority.

It would also limit the current use of the “reasonableness” measure, in which the court can strike down any law or government action it deems “unreasonable” – a problematic standard which is vague and fluid.

Herzog’s draft also blocks the court from nixing Basic Laws – the closest Israeli equivalent to a constitution.

The leaked draft caused a storm in Israel, prompting the President’s Office to release a statement “clarifying” that it was only one of a number under consideration.

Levin and his fellow judicial reform architect, Constitution, Law and Justice Committee chair MK Simcha Rothman, released a joint statement welcoming the president’s clarification but warning that the compromise “neutered” the main principles of the judicial reform.

Leaders of the protest movement roiling Israel were much harsher in their stance towards the compromise, calling it a “spit in the face” of the protesters and the beginnings of a “dictatorship.”

“The president gave Levin, [Finance Minister Bezalel] Smotrich, Rothman and Netanyahu the keys to dictatorship,” they said in a statement.

“This was spitting in the face of the millions of people who have been battling for two months for the sake of Israeli democracy. In contradiction to his public promises, the president conducted a shady unilateral procedure and produced another proposal for dictatorship. We won’t accept it. We won’t live under a dictatorship.”

Likud MK Boaz Bismuth, a proponent of the reform, also slammed the proposal as a “surrender to the opposition.”

“I’m in favor of negotiations, I’m not in favor of surrender. Today it’s the reforms, tomorrow it will be Jerusalem,” he tweeted.

In his meeting with municipal leaders, Herzog warned of a historic crisis.

“We are in a historic crisis that threatens to destroy us from within. We are in one of the most difficult moments that the State of Israel has experienced. It seems like a paradox, doesn’t it? No missiles, no alarms, no red alert. But we all know deep down that this is a supreme national danger,” he said.