Statement by the Israel Democracy Institute on the Prime Minister’s Decision to Suspend the Judicial Overhaul
The temporary suspension of the judicial overhaul provides an opportunity for the Prime Minister, as well as the leaders of the coalition and the opposition, to turn this crisis into a historic constitutional opportunity. A constitutional framework – based on broad-based consensus – must include three key principles:
- Entrenchment of basic rights and the commitment to equality in the spirit of the Declaration of Independence
- Preservation of the independence of the judicial system and the professional character of judicial appointments
- Codification and entrenchment of agreed “rules of the game,” so as to prevent a temporary political majority from altering Israel’s constitutional framework or endangering democratic values.
The vast public support, from right to left, for an arrangement rooted in compromise behooves Israel’s elected leadership to pledge that they will henceforth promote constitutional arrangements only on the basis of consensus. Any attempt to implement such changes unilaterally will endanger the solidarity, security, and economic prosperity of all Israelis.
As we approach the Passover holiday – the ‘festival of freedom’– now is the time to entrench the freedoms of all Israelis in an agreed constitutional framework.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, addressing the nation, March 27, 2023