Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter, former head of the Shin Bet security service, dismisses a letter of concern from hundreds of former agents who urged him today not to back the government’s plan for sweeping reforms of the judiciary, while warning they threaten Israel’s democracy.
“I have great respect for the people of the Shin Bet,” he says, noting he has indeed received many concerned messages, but he stresses that he believes and hopes “that it will be seen eventually by myself and my friends… that the legislative process we began last night is a process to strengthen democracy.”
He adds that it is best “not to give too much attention too soon to hysterical claims” about the effects of the bills.
He compares the current atmosphere to that before 1967’s Six Day War when many people felt the country was doomed.
Dichter asserts that the coalition is candid in its desire to talk and calls on opposition leaders to take up the offer in order to reach a compromise.
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From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, February 21, 2023
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