Israel President urges consensus after judicial changes pass

Israel’s president has called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition to seek dialogue and compromise after it pushed ahead with controversial judicial overhaul in a turbulent parliamentary session overnight

Israel's President on Tuesday called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition to seek dialogue and compromise after it pushed ahead with a controversial judicial overhaul in a turbulent parliamentary session overnight.

Isaac Herzog said it was a “difficult morning” following the late-night parliamentary vote that saw two contentious pieces of legislation — part of sweeping changes that have prompted vocal criticism in Israel and abroad — pass a preliminary hurdle.

Critics say the judicial overhaul underway will concentrate power in the hands of the ruling coalition in Israel's Parliament, the Knesset, and erode the democratic system of checks and balances. Netanyahu and his allies insist the changes will better curb an overly powerful Supreme Court.

"Many citizens across Israeli society, many people who voted for the coalition, are fearful for national unity,” Mr. Herzog said at a conference organized by the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper. He urged Mr. Netanyahu and his allies to enable dialogue to reach a consensus on judiciary reform.

Mr. Herzog's remarks came the morning after tens of thousands of Israelis protested outside the Knesset ahead of the vote, the second mass demonstration in Jerusalem in recent weeks. Israeli Palestinians, a minority that may have the most to lose by the overhaul, have mostly stayed on the sidelines, due to discrimination they face at home and Israel’s ongoing 55-year occupation of their Palestinian brethren in the West Bank.

After more than seven hours of debate that dragged on after midnight, Mr. Netanyahu and his allies passed two clauses in the package of proposed changes that seek to weaken the country's Supreme Court and further empower ruling parliamentary coalitions.

With a 63-47 vote, the Knesset approved measures that give the governing coalition control over judicial appointments and curtail the Supreme Court’s ability to review “Basic Laws” that have a quasi-constitutional role in Israel, which doesn't have a formal constitution. The Bills still require two additional readings in parliament to pass into law.