PM said determined to pass ‘reasonableness’ law as planned this week unless compromise deal with opposition

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told coalition MKs that if no agreement can be reached with the opposition on the “reasonableness” bill, it will be passed in its current form on Monday as scheduled, Channel 12 reports.

The TV station further reports that there has been no contact between coalition leaders and opposition party leaders Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz over the weekend.

The report suggests that Netanyahu is not prepared to unilaterally soften the provisions of the bill — which will prevent judicial review of government and ministerial decisions according to their “reasonableness” — or to accede to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s reported plea to delay the vote and allow more time to negotiate a compromise on the bill.

Channel 12 further reports, without citing sources, that IDF chief Herzi Halevi has told Netanyahu and Gallant that if the law passes, and the vow by hundreds of volunteer reserve pilots to stop their service takes effect, the IAF’s operational capabilities will be adversely affected within 48 hours.

Education Minister Yoav Kisch (Likud), a former combat pilot, tells Channel 12 that the reasonableness law “does not spell the demise of Israel and the end of democracy,” as some critics have said. “The government cannot capitulate in the face of pressure from [some in the] military,” he adds.

The same TV station quotes unnamed coalition sources saying that the coalition “cannot concede to a group of officers led by Ehud Barak” — the former prime minister and ex-IDF chief who is repeatedly cited by members of the coalition as a central figure galvanizing reservists’ opposition to the judicial overhaul.