Live UpdateFrom the Liveblog of Saturday, March 18, 2023

Likud MK calls to halt judicial overhaul legislation, hold talks

18 March 2023, 8:47 pm 16 Edit

Likud MK and Chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Yuli Edelstein speaks in the Knesset plenum in favor of his bill to repeal the sections of the 2005 Disengagement law which led to the evacuation of four settlements in the northern West Bank, February 15, 2023. (Noam Moskowitz/Knesset Spokesperson's Department)

Likud MK Yuli Edelstein calls to freeze the judicial overhaul in order to hold talks with its opponents.

Speaking to Channel 13 news, Edelstein says the government should “stop in order to talk.”

“Really, we could have done this a while ago for several reasons. Not only to give a chance for dialogue but also not to fuel the protests,” he says.

“If you always say, ‘We won’t stop, not even for a moment, and we will pass the reform as is,’ you are only helping recruit more and more power to the protests,” Edelstein adds.

Last week, Edelstein was sanctioned by the Likud after he broke ranks, missing two key votes tied to the coalition’s sweeping plan to shift power from the judiciary to politicians.