Dershowitz lays out offer for compromise on judicial shakeup, urges public debates

Prominent US lawyer Alan Dershowitz voices his proposals on the plans to overhaul Israel’s judiciary, telling Channel 12 that the two guiding principles that need to form the basis for an agreed compromise are a “non-partisan Supreme Court” and clearly defining that whatever curbs are placed on the top court, it will retain the last word on “basic, core, fundamental issues” of human rights.

“If we can agree on these two principles, we can come together. The rest is commentary,” he says.

Dershowitz says he supports efforts — spearheaded by President Isaac Herzog — to move toward compromise, and advocates public debates on the issues at hand, as commonly happens in the US but rarely in Israel.

“Let the public decide after hearing both sides,” he urges. “Protests don’t produce nuance, debate produces nuance.”

He says that when he discussed the matters with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the past, the latter “used terms ‘balance’ and ‘reasonableness’ over and over,” arguing that the premier would be willing to accept a balanced proposal.

He expresses hope that meaningful negotiations and debates can be held between the first reading in the Knesset — expected during the coming week — and the final second and third readings.