Netanyahu vows to push ahead on plans to overhaul judicial system

The government's plans to overhaul the judiciary plunged Israel into one of its worst domestic crises ever earlier this year, with critics fearing a plunge into authoritarianism.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday his government intends to move ahead on contentious plans to change the country’s judicial system after talks aimed at finding a compromise solution appeared to be crumbling.

The government’s plans to overhaul the judiciary plunged Israel into one of its worst domestic crises ever earlier this year. Negotiations between the government and opposition parties somewhat alleviated the crisis with attempts to find a middle ground over proposed changes to the country’s justice system.

Those talks were jolted last week over a crisis surrounding the powerful regular committee responsible for picking the country’s judges. Opposition leaders said negotiations were frozen until the committee is formed.

At a meeting of his Cabinet on Sunday, Netanyahu said the opposition hadn’t been negotiating in good faith and that his government would move ahead cautiously on the overhaul.

“This week, we will begin the practical steps. We will do them in a measured way, responsibly, but in accordance with the mandate we received to make corrections to the justice system,” he said.

Netanyahu put the overhaul on hold in March after mass protests erupted in opposition to it. The decision to move ahead is likely to flare tensions and fuel the protest movement that has continued to demonstrate each Saturday, despite the plan being paused.

Protest leaders said they were ready for another round of demonstrations that would make sure “every attempt to harm Israel’s democratic justice system will fail.”

Opposition leader Yair Lapid, whose party had been negotiating with Netanyahu, said moving ahead unilaterally on the plan “will critically harm the economy, endanger security and rip the Israeli people to shreds.”