From the Liveblog of
Monday, March 27, 2023
Otzma Yehudit MK says pausing overhaul would be ‘gift for terrorism’
Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter
Ultranationalist MK Limor Son Har-Melech of the Otzma Yehudit party says the judicial overhaul legislation must not be stopped, and argues that doing so would be a “gift for terrorism” and would repeat the mistakes of previous right-wing governments.
Son Har-Melech says her far-right party has not agreed to halt the legislative process for the government’s bill to give the coalition complete control over most judicial appointments, which alongside other bills to weaken the judiciary has spawned the mass protest movement against the government.
“Stopping the legislation is a mistake and would be a gift to terrorism, it would be saying ‘it’s worthwhile to be violent, it’s worth it to burn down the country,’” she tells The Times of Israel.
“The legal reform is not the reason for these protests. It’s an excuse to allow the Supreme Court to govern so that right-wing policy which is for the good of the Jewish people cannot be enacted,” she argues.
“We hope the right-wing public will cry out and say that’s enough, we want something else, we deserve it, we are not invisible citizens, you cannot ignore us because of a small group of people who sadly are inside every framework of power in the state and lack all responsibility.”
Otzma Yehudit leader Itamar Ben Gvir has reportedly threatened to quit the government if the legislation is halted, as is widely expected.
