Lapid says Herzog’s proposal ‘not perfect’ but ‘fair,’ slams coalition for rejecting it

Opposition leader Yair Lapid slams the coalition for rejecting President Isaac Herzog’s framework for judicial reform, saying that his Yesh Atid party is embracing the proposal to stave off “civil war.”

“The framework presented yesterday by the president isn’t perfect. It isn’t what we wanted, but it is a fair compromise that allows us to live here together,” says Lapid in a special press conference alongside four other opposition party leaders. “The alternative is serious harm to our economy and our national security, and an angry, confused society torn to pieces.”

Lapid says “it took the government 17 minutes to announce they reject the framework,” and that “they told the president he too could go to hell” before “even bother[ing] to study it.”

Coalition members swiftly came out against President Isaac Herzog’s proposal, with Prime Minister Netanyahu saying that it will not let the government achieve its goal of retooling power divisions between politicians and the judiciary.

Amid further protests across Israel today, Lapid says that his Yesh Atid party “accept[s] the president’s framework because there will only be losers in a civil war,” echoing warnings by Herzog and others over political violence linked to the polarizing judicial overhaul debate.

Despite Netanyahu’s dismissal of Herzog’s framework, Lapid makes a plea to other members of the premier’s Likud party, saying “they know what’s at stake.”

“They know that in the future, every Israeli citizen will ask themselves: where was I in the winter of 2023? Was I silent when I saw my country being driven off a cliff?” the opposition leader adds.