“he (Justice Minister Levin) did not intend for his plan to pass in its maximalist version, and he admitted that he planted many bargaining chips in it…. With the passage of time, his spirit darkened and he expressed to his interlocutors authentic frustration at the feeling that there was no one to talk to on the
other side.(Hilo Glazer Haaretz Supplement 5.5.2023

On Sunday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu indicated that he intends to proceed with judicial reform legislation.

There is absolutely no reason to expect that the opposition will engage in a constructive dialogue, either in the Knesset Committees or on the floor of the Knesset itself. Instead, they will likely exploit whatever procedural means are at their disposal to delay the enactment of the legislation. I write “at most” because the opposition may opt to boycott the proceedings altogether for the optics.

Either way, there is no need for the proposed legislation to include bargaining chips because there is no one in the Knesset to bargain with.

I don’t expect any opposition MKs to embrace the legislation if it’s published now without bargaining chips.

And yes, there are Israelis who are using the protest against legislative reform as a platform to somehow bring down the government.

BUT there are many good, concerned Israeli citizens who are genuinely terrified about the judicial reform. They fear that the maximalist version, which includes the bargaining chips, is also the final version.

These normative, concerned Israeli citizens deserve the opportunity to see what the judicial reform is really all about.

I’m not naive. I don’t honestly expect the media talking heads to give an honest assessment of the legislation. But they can’t stop concerned citizens, and I believe there are many whose heads are not turned by noisy protests, from taking the opportunity to decide for themselves.

I believe that the ruling coalition has a moral obligation to those genuinely concerned Israeli citizens to publish, in its final form, any judicial reform legislation which it intends to unilaterally enact.

Who knows? We have been saying all along that the actual legislation will enjoy broad support.

Maybe sharing it with the public will allay the fears of many concerned Israeli citizens, thus defusing a potential crisis.

Dr. Aaron Lerner heads IMRA – Independent Media Review and Analysis, since 1992 providing news and analysis on the Middle East with a focus on Arab-Israeli relations