While the opposition refuses to negotiate with the coalition on the government’s planned judicial reforms unless the bills on the issue are frozen and the coalition refuses to pause the legislative process, four MKs from the Likud and National Unity parties published a joint call for dialogue.
The statement by MKs Danny Danon, Yuli Edelstein, Gadi Eisenkot, and Chili Tropper reads: “We the undersigned, members of Knesset from different factions, who have the welfare of the State of Israel at the forefront of our minds, undertake to do everything to preserve our common home.”
“The State of Israel is currently facing many complex challenges in the fields of society, the economy and its international status and is facing serious attacks and security challenges more serious than ever before,” they wrote.
“The State of Israel is currently facing many complex challenges in the fields of society, the economy, and its international status, and is facing serious terrorist attacks and more serious security challenges than ever before. Above all of these hovers, like a dark shadow, the difficult controversy that tears and divides the public in Israel regarding the various proposals concerning the Israeli justice system. We have no doubt that although the disputes are difficult, we must act in every way to reach broad agreements,
The four called on all parties to accept President Isaac Herzog’s offer to conduct negotiations to reach a compromise on the judicial reform issue.
“We have no doubt that even though the disputes are serious, it is our duty to act in every way to reach broad agreements. It is our duty as representatives of the public and as its elected officials, to act immediately to settle the disputes and reach agreements and above all to stop the danger of disintegration that lies before us as a society and as a country.
“All that is required is to respond to the invitation of the President of the State and hold a discussion based on the principles of the outline he proposed. We call on all MKs to support this path and to respond to the President’s call,” the joint statement concluded.

Earlier, President Isaac Herzog spoke about the judicial reforms at the closing ceremony of the IAF pilots’ course and said that “the State of Israel, Israeli society, all of us &mdash are in a difficult hour of an internal, deep, and serious crisis that threatens us all. It threatens Israel’s internal resilience and solidarity. It is dangerous, very dangerous. I say from here to the citizens of Israel on this difficult and painful day: I hear your voice, my brothers and sisters, the voices of patriotic Israeli citizens who are fearful for Israeli democracy. I see the protests, the anxiety and the fear that comes from the depths of your hearts &mdash a fear that I also expressed regarding the legislation as it is being presented now. I feel very well the depth of pain, and the depth of concern for the fate of the country.”
“We could descend into a terrible abyss – but on the other hand, we can reach a solution with a broad consensus. I will not let our State of Israel – which belongs to all of us – reach the point of no return, I will not let this historic disaster happen. I will never give up any part of Israeli society – nor on the chance to reach a broad consensus. I know that many, many, many of you yearn for this and I am with you. I am anxious about our common destiny, anxious for our country, whose very establishment was a clear miracle, and whose success is the fruit of all our labor,” the president said.
Herzog again called for agreements to be reached on the the reform. “Giving up is an easy solution, but it’s not a workable plan. For the past two months I’ve been looking for an opportunity in the midst of the crisis, I believe with all my heart that it is possible to turn this moment of crisis into a defining constitutional moment. A moment in which we preserve for generations our democracy, the principles of the Declaration of Independence, the rule of the law, human rights, and the checks and balances between the branches of government. I believe that it is possible to turn the ground which is burning under our feet into fertile soil ripe for agreements – that will bring stability to the State of Israel for years and generations, and will reflect in the deepest way the democratic and Jewish principles of our country – that appear in a clear and binding manner in the Declaration of Independence.”