Israel’s Netanyahu rejects Biden’s call to ‘walk
away’ from judicial overhaul
Prime minister praises US president’s commitment to
Israel but will not be swayed by ‘pressures from abroad’
Staff and
agencies
Wed 29 Mar
2023 01.44 BST
Benjamin
Netanyahu has dismissed Joe Biden’s call to “walk away” from a proposed
judicial overhaul that has led to massive protests across Israel, with the
Israeli prime minister responding that he does not make decisions based on
pressure from abroad.
Netanyahu
on Monday delayed the proposal after large numbers of people spilled into the
streets. The White House initially suggested Netanyahu should seek a compromise
but the US president went further in taking questions from reporters on
Tuesday. “I hope he walks away from it,” Biden said.
“Like many
strong supporters of Israel I’m very concerned ... They cannot continue down
this road, and I’ve sort of made that clear,” Biden told reporters during a
visit to North Carolina.
“Hopefully
the prime minister [Netanyahu] will act in a way that he will try to work out
some genuine compromise, but that remains to be seen,” Biden said, adding he
was not considering inviting the Israeli leader to the White House, at least
“not in the near term”. Previously, the US ambassador to Israel, Tom Nides,
told local radio that Netanyahu was expected to be invited “as soon as their
schedules can be coordinated”.
Netanyahu
quickly issued a statement in response: “Israel is a sovereign country which
makes its decisions by the will of its people and not based on pressures from
abroad, including from the best of friends.
“I have
known President Biden for over 40 years, and I appreciate his longstanding
commitment to Israel,” Netanyahu said. He said the Israel-US alliance was
unbreakable “and always overcomes the occasional disagreements between us”.
“My
administration is committed to strengthening democracy by restoring the proper
balance between the three branches of government, which we are striving to
achieve via a broad consensus.”
On Tuesday
evening, Israel’s far-right government and opposition parties held a first
meeting on the judiciary proposals. “After about an hour-and-a-half, the
meeting, which took place in a positive spirit, came to an end,” President
Isaac Herzog’s office said late Tuesday. “Tomorrow, President Isaac Herzog will
continue the series of meetings,” it added.
It comes
amid scenes of chaos in Israeli politics, with questions over whether Yoav Gallant,
the defence minister fired by Netanyahu, is refusing to step down and concerns
the prime minister may have promised too much to far-right politicians in
exchange for a deal aimed at quelling nationwide demonstrations.
Netanyahu
dismissed Gallant for breaking ranks and openly calling for a halt to the
overhaul. However, aides to Gallant said he would remain in his post, asserting
he had never been formally notified. Spokespeople for Netanyahu and his party,
Likud, made no immediate comment.
Amid a
surge in protests, Netanyahu announced in a speech on Monday a delay to his
proposals, saying he wanted time to seek a compromise with political opponents.
The move temporarily placated seething anger, with the main labour union
calling off its strike after his speech and Israeli streets mostly quiet on
Tuesday.
The speech
ended a tense day in which hospitals, universities, seaports and the
international airport in effect shut down in protest at the judicial changes,
which many see as a neutering of judges’ power to hold the government to
account. Late in the day, government supporters assaulted television crews and
Arab people.
Nides told
local radio on Tuesday he welcomed the move to delay the bill, joking that
after the speech he “had a nice night of sleep”.
Later on
Tuesday, questions were being raised over Netanyahu’s control over and
credibility within his governing coalition, which includes a mixture of
rightwing nationalists, religious leaders and far-right figures.
Netanyahu
managed to pacify the national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, the most
ardent supporter of the judicial reform bill from the far-right Jewish Power
party, only by agreeing to the formation of a “national guard” under Ben-Gvir’s
control.
While there
were questions over whether Netanyahu had made an empty promise, critics
decried plans for what they described as a militia. “The prime minister has
bribed the extreme right via a promise to create a militia that would endanger
Israeli citizens – particularly the anti-coup protesters – as long as his
government survives,” the left-leaning Haaretz newspaper wrote in an editorial.
It called on Israelis to “keep up the pressure on Netanyahu until he scraps the
coup”.
Protest
organisers have promised to continue to hold rallies.
With Oliver Holmes and Reuters
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