US President Joe Biden on Sunday urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to choose a “compromise” against a controversial reform of Israel’s judiciary, a White House press release said.
In a telephone conversation with the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr. Biden stressed, in his first position on the issue, that reform must respect fundamental democratic values, the US president explained in a statement.
According to the President of the United States, democratic principles are “a hallmark” of US-Israeli relations. “He offered his support to the ongoing efforts to find a compromise (…) consistent with these fundamental values,” the text reads.
“Democratic societies are strengthened by true systems of democratic checks and balances (power),” and any fundamental change must have “the widest popular support,” Mr. Biden added to Mr. Netanyahu, according to the same source.
The reform, announced in early January, includes an article allowing Parliament to overturn Supreme Court decisions by a simple majority, in a move that is “humiliating” for its opponents.
The aim is to strengthen the Parliament’s power over the judiciary. Critics of the reform say it threatens the democratic nature of the State of Israel and could lead to the overturning of a potential conviction for Mr. Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption.
For their part, the right-wing prime minister and his allies say reform is needed to restore the balance of power between members of the Knesset and the Supreme Court, which they see as politicized. The provisions of the bill have already been approved by the national delegation of Israel in the first reading.
Thousands of protesters again took to the streets of Israel on Saturday for the 11th week in a row to denounce Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bill on the judiciary.
On Wednesday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog presented a draft compromise on the planned reform, which was accepted by opposition party leaders but promptly rejected by ruling coalition factions. He himself warned of the possibility Civil War in the country.
Source: RES-IPE
Source: Kathimerini
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