Liberman predicts overhaul deal by Wednesday, says opposition will cave

Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman says he believes that the opposition will give in to coalition demands in exchange for securing a representative on the panel that picks Israel’s judges.

Liberman, who is boycotting the ongoing judicial overhaul negotiations, says he “assesses” that an agreement will be announced on Wednesday, prior to the Knesset’s vote on appointing two lawmakers to the panel.

In line with coalition negotiator statements and media reports, Liberman says the deal would curtail the judicial test of reasonableness, allowing the government to reinstate Shas leader Aryeh Deri as a minister.

According to Liberman, that is “the core” of any deal, strengthening “Netanyahu’s messianic coalition.”

The High Court disqualified Deri’s appointment as health and interior minister earlier this year, citing them as “unreasonable in the extreme” in light of Deri’s financial crimes.

Liberman says that such a deal will not stop the coalition’s plan to weaken judicial power. “There is no doubt that [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu will legislate the laws desired by [Justice Minister] Yariv Levin,” he says.

Liberman says he won’t join a coalition led by Netanyahu, but says that a liberal Zionist option is available. “No one pushed him. This is the option he chose,” Liberman says of Netanyahu’s decision to ally with far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties.

The former finance and defense minister compares Israel to Lebanon before its road to collapse. “If we don’t change the trend, within four years, we’re on the same path,” he says.