Senior figures at right-wing think tank behind overhaul now said urging coalition to halt

Senior figures at a right-wing think tank that is behind a significant chunk of the government’s judicial overhaul plans have begun reaching out to ministers and MKs to convince them to indefinitely halt any further legislation, Channel 12 news reports.

The report says not everyone at the Kohelet Policy Forum was calling to immediately suspend the judicial shakeup. Those who are reportedly in favor of doing so believe the government should instead focus on less contentious matters, believing the juice isn’t worth the squeeze.

“We need to stop because the nation is completely divided, the army has been harmed and society is hurting,” the latter group is said to argue.

According to the report, which doesn’t cite a source, some of the Kohelet figures voiced tough criticism of Justice Minister Yariv Levin, charging he took an uncompromising stance in talks that hurt the prospects of enacting broader change to the judicial system.

The network notes it’s unclear when members of Kohelet, which declined to comment, began their outreach if and it was before or after the decision last week by an American billionaire who is a leading donor to the institute to stop funding it.

A spokesperson for the think tank describes the report as “categorically false,” while declining to elaborate further.