Gantz and party members back Herzog speech, call for ‘real dialogue’

National Unity leader Benny Gantz and other members of his opposition party voice support for President Isaac Herzog’s call for dialogue on the government’s planned overhaul of the judiciary.

Gantz says National Unity wants talks “on a true reform that is not political” and maintains the judiciary’s independence.

He calls for any changes to be carried out for “the needs of the citizens and not for political schemes.”

National Unity MK Gideon Sa’ar, the former justice minister, says Herzog’s proposals are a “fair basis for dialogue.”

“The condition for honest and real dialogue is immediate halt of the legislation,” Sa’ar tweets.

Meanwhile, Histadrut labor federation chair Arnon Bar-David calls on “all Israeli citizens to unite behind the president’s words. The story of our life in the country we yearned for for 2,000 years was written in toil, sweat, pain and determination, but more than everything, it was enabled by our unity as a society. There are no winners and losers here. Let’s stop before the political rift tears Israeli society apart.”

Protest leaders laud “the president’s speech that came from the depths of his heart, as he understands the depth of the crisis a dictatorship will bring.”

They vow to continue to take action until the government “announces it is entirely removing the threat of destroying Zionism and democracy.”