Israel’s president urges Netanyahu to delay judicial overhaul: ‘Abandon the deceiving’ – National

Israel‘s president on Sunday appealed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to delay a contentious plan to overhaul the country’s judicial system and instead seek a compromise with his political opponents.

President Isaac Herzog issued the appeal in a prime-time nationwide address a day before Netanyahu’s coalition is to take its first steps toward implementing the plan in parliament.

The proposed reforms have triggered mass demonstrations and opposition from wide swaths of Israeli society. Even President Joe Biden has offered veiled criticism, saying Sunday that Israel’s democracy is built on consensus and an independent judiciary.

“I feel, we all feel, that we are in a moment before a collision, even a violent collision, a barrel of explosives before a blast,” Herzog said.

Herzog’s job is largely ceremonial. But the president is meant to serve as a moral compass and unifying force, and his words can carry great weight in a deeply divided country.

There was no immediate response from Netanyahu.

Netanyahu and his supporters say the proposed changes are needed to rein in a judiciary that wields too much power.

But his critics say the plan, which include proposals to weaken Israel’s Supreme Court, will damage the country’s fragile system of democratic checks and balances. They also say that Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption charges, is motivated by a personal grudge against the legal system and has a deep conflict of interest. Netanyahu has said he is a victim of a witch hunt.

“They want to destroy the system because the system wasn’t nice to them,” said Eliad Shraga, chairman of the Movement for Quality Government in Israel. “This is a hostile takeover by a bunch of crooks.”

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Thousands of Israelis protest Netanyahu’s justice plans for 5th week

Shraga’s movement has planned a mass demonstration outside the Knesset, or parliament, on Monday, when Netanyahu’s coalition is expected to introduce the first legislation for its sweeping overhaul….