Gantz calls on Netanyahu to renew judicial overhaul talks, halt legislative push

Carrie Keller-Lynn is a former political and legal correspondent for The Times of Israel

National Unity Party leader Benny Gantz leads a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, July 3, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)
National Unity Party leader Benny Gantz leads a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, July 3, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)

Warning of looming civil war, opposition party head Benny Gantz calls on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt his coalition’s unilateral drive to overhaul the judiciary, as part of resuming reform compromise talks.

“I call on Netanyahu to immediately announce the cessation of unilateral legislation, to come to the President’s Residence today and return to dialogue,” he says. “If not for democracy, if not for security, if not for the economy, then for the integrity of the people of Israel and the prevention of bloodshed.”

Netanyahu’s Likud party quickly slaps back, saying, “We don’t believe Benny Gantz” and accusing him of not being serious about negotiating a compromise at the talks hosted by President Isaac Herzog.

Gantz, the party says, “is prisoner to the protest and is unwilling or unable to reach any agreements. His whole purpose is to waste more time.”

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