Backtracking from previous statement, Netanyahu reassures override clause still viable
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly reassured conservative coalition partners on Sunday that the judicial overhaul’s controversial override clause has not been shelved.
If implemented, it would enable the Knesset to overturn Supreme Court decisions by a simple majority.
The prime minister’s latest statement directly contradicts his recent vow to get rid of the override clause.
“I said that the idea of an override clause, where the parliament, the Knesset, can override the decisions of the Supreme Court with a simple majority, I said, I threw that out,” stated Netanyahu in a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal.
While Netanyahu has stressed the need for judicial reform, he recently acknowledged that the proposed laws must be more moderate and enjoy broad support in Israeli society.
“It is very clear that the way of choosing judges is not going to be the current structure, but it’s not going to be the original structure.”
Netanyahu has publicly stated the need for national compromise but struggled to find a middle ground between the political opposition and his more radical coalition partners.
“I am attentive to public sentiment and what I think will pass muster. I want changes that will stick for a generation,” Netanyahu said in the interview.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog has emerged as a figure striving for unity in the increasingly divided Israeli society. Herzog has hosted representatives from the opposition and the coalition in an effort to find a national consensus on Israel’s current political and legal crisis, so far, without success.
The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
