Lapid: We had deal with Netanyahu on overhaul last week; he caved to Levin, Ben Gvir
Opposition head says that following failure of compromise efforts to block reasonableness law, he’ll only enter talks if coalition legally commits to an 18-month legislative pause
Opposition leader Yair Lapid claimed Saturday that he and other leaders in his bloc had been close a week ago to reaching an 11th-hour agreement with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding the judicial overhaul, but that hardliners Justice Minister Yariv Levin and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir blocked its finalization.
Instead, the Knesset on Monday approved the first law in the government’s sweeping plans — a measure that prevents judges from reviewing government and ministerial decisions on the basis of their “reasonableness.” All 64 coalition members supported the bill — with the entire 56-strong opposition boycotting the vote — despite sustained mass protests, vehement opposition from top judicial, security, economic and public figures, repeated warnings from allies — chief among them the US — and thousands of military reservists vowing to quit service.
“Ben Gvir and Levin entered the room, banged on the table and Netanyahu capitulated to them,” Lapid told the Kan public broadcaster in an interview Saturday.
The opposition chair said the way forward now was a one-and-a-half-year pause in overhaul legislation, which needed to be signed and then codified into law.
“Not an agreement, but a law, because I don’t believe a word Netanyahu says,” Lapid explained, adding that such a term had been included in the proposed compromise he allegedly reached with Netanyahu.
During the proposed period of quiet, the sides would have resumed talks brokered by President Isaac Herzog aimed at reaching a compromise on judicial reform, Lapid said.
If the sides managed to reach broad agreements during that time, the relevant legislation would have been advanced, the Yesh Atid party chief said, adding that such a freeze was his condition for any talks with the coalition moving forward.
Lapid claimed that it would take years to repair the damage caused by the coalition when it rammed the reasonableness law through the Knesset.
He argued that the country was not headed toward a “constitutional crisis,” but toward an “existential” one.
He said Netanyahu was causing damage to the country in his interviews with US media, taking particular aim at the premier’s refusal during a CNN interview to promise he will adhere to a potential High Court of Justice ruling striking down overhaul legislation. (The Prime Minister’s Office issued a clarification Friday in which it said, “The governments of Israel always respect court rulings,” but added, “The court has always viewed itself as obligated by Basic Laws.”)
“We are breaking apart from within,” Lapid said. “We must not get into this situation. It’s terribly irresponsible of the prime minister to not say immediately: ‘Listen, of course, we will follow a court ruling because we are a country of the rule of law.'”
‘Netanyahu’s functioning is faulty’
In another interview Saturday by an opposition party leader, Yisrael Beytenu party chair Avigdor Liberman called the prime minister “an immediate danger to the existence of the state.”
The remarks from Liberman during a Channel 12 interview were the latest against Netanyahu since the two former allies had a bitter falling out four years ago.
“Netanyahu’s functioning is faulty. Medically speaking, he can no longer handle the pressure and pace demanded from a prime minister,” Liberman said, referring to the premier’s two recent hospitalizations, which according to doctors came after heart-related incidents that put his life in danger and necessitated the implantation of a pacemaker.
Liberman also tore into a bill presented by ultra-Orthodox lawmakers on Tuesday to enshrine the value of Torah study in a quasi-constitutional Basic Law, widely seen as aimed at further cementing military draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men.
Liberman said the bill, which was quickly shot down by Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party amid backlash, “spells the collapse of the IDF and the end of the Zionist enterprise.”
As for Communication Minister Shlomo Karhi’s proposed reforms for the media market, Liberman called them a North Korea-like “takeover of the media by the state.”
Reiterating his longstanding criticism of Netanyahu, the right-wing secularist also slammed the premier for his close partnership with the Haredi parties. The former finance minister also claimed that the current government was doing immense harm to the economy through its overhaul legislation.
