Smotrich: Gantz and Lapid dissing Herzog by refusing overhaul talks

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says opposition leaders are slighting President Isaac Herzog by refusing to accede to his plea for talks on the judicial overhaul moving through the Knesset.

“[Yair] Lapid and [Benny] Gantz are humiliating the president and proving again that they have no interest in dialogue or compromise,” Smotrich tweets.

Lapid and Gantz earlier responded to Herzog’s call for compromise talks by reiterating their position that negotiations can only take place if the legislative process is frozen. The coalition has demanded talks without preconditions.

Smotrich alleges that protests against the judicial overhaul, which observers say will fundamentally harm protections for democratic norms, are “totally political and designed to create chaos and harm the country to bring down the right-wing government.”