Posted on 03/28/23
| News Source: Arutz-7
President Isaac Herzog has summoned the negotiating teams of the coalition and Yesh Atid and National Unity parties to his official residence at 7:30 this evening (Tuesday) for negotiations on the government's planned judicial reforms.
Later this week, the president is expected to meet with the other parties' representatives.
The Likud party announced that its negotiating team will consist of Minister Ron Dermer, government secretary Yossi Fuchs, and Dr. Aviad Bakshi, the director of the legal department in the Kohelet Policy Forum. The architects of the judicial reforms, Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Knesset Constitution Committee chairman MK Simcha Rothman, will also be part of the coalition's negotiating team.
Opposition chairman MK Yair Lapid's team will comprise MK Orna Barbivay, MK Karin Elharar, a former director of the Prime Minister's Office, Naama Shultz, and attorney Oded Gazit.
The team chosen by National Unity party chairman MK Benny Gantz will consist of MK Gideon Sa'ar, MK Yehiel Tropper, MK Orit Farkash-Hacohen, and attorney Ronen Aviani.
The negotiations will be held following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's announcement yesterday (Monday) that the judicial reform legislation will be frozen until the Knesset's summer session to allow for negotiations on the issue and prevent the controversy surrounding the reforms from tearing the country apart. Netanyahu's announcement fulfilled the opposition's preconditions that the reforms had to be frozen for them to agree to negotiations.
Yesterday, President Herzog spoke with Netanyahu, Lapid, and Gantz, and welcomed the decision to begin negotiations under the auspices of the President's Residence in order to arrive at a broad consensus on the judicial reforms.