Netanyahu Optimistic on Judicial Reform Compromise

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sounded an optimistic note on judicial reform Sunday as his Cabinet reconvened following the spring holidays — as one key supporter warned that the survival of the government depended on passing it.

Netanyahu addressed the looming political crisis in Israel, which simmered throughout the Passover, Easter, and Ramadan holidays, as well as Memorial Day and Independence Day last week. The government, newly elected in November with a large right-wing coalition, proposed reforms to the country’s judiciary that would rein in the power of what has become an unaccountable, and ideologically rigid, left-wing bastion of power.

The left-wing opposition has staged mass rallies since the beginning of the year in opposition to the reforms. (Supporters of the reform held their own rally last week.) The opposition used increasingly aggressive tactics, including trapping members of the government in their homes and convincing military reservists to desert. Israel’s ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, proposed a compromise that gutted the reforms, and was rejected.

Netanyahu paused the reforms to allow for negotiations, which began under Herzog’s auspices. While protests have continued, both Herzog and Netanyahu have sounded hopeful that a compromise will emerge — perhaps one that reins in the judiciary in return for enshrining certain rights of the secular minority in a constitution.

Conservative writer David Hazony said that a compromise could even lead to the “rebirth” of the State of Israel.

However, Simcha Rothman, a member of the Knesset who is part of the Religious Zionism party, has warned that if the reforms do not pass, it could lead to the collapse of Netanyahu’s coalition.

That would mean new elections — almost certainly bringing a left-wing government to power, at a moment when Israel faces threats from Iran and the Palestinians, and when the U.S. administration of Joe Biden has been isolating Israel.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.