Benjamin Netanyahu says Opposition threatening Israel’s democracy, not his judicial reforms

Tel Aviv [Israel]: A defiant Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to the Israeli public Thursday night in a televised broadcast in which he declared his government’s intention to move forward with its controversial judicial reform program. Netanyahu also charged that the opposition is to blame for any failure to reach a compromise agreement on the plan.

Netanyahu dismissed the claims of the opposition that the judicial reforms will harm Israel’s democracy. Referring to the expected passage of a new “reasonableness” clause that would limit what types of laws the country’s Supreme Court will be empowered in the future to review, Netanyahu adamantly denied that it would harm Israel’s democracy. Instead, he said, calls to refuse IDF reserve duty in protest do harm it.

“The cause of reasonableness is not the end of democracy, but what will endanger democracy is the refusal,” Netanyahu said.

“The refusal endangers the security of all Israeli citizens. In a democracy, the army is subordinate to the government, it does not bend the government. The decisive hand is the hand that puts the ballot in the ballot box and not the one that holds the weapon.”

Netanyahu went on to say that the opposition during months of negotiations on the issue provided his side with no real compromise, insinuating that it was not interested in one.

The Prime Minister left the door open, however, to contusing with negotiations over the remaining parts of his judicial reform plan saying, “Even at this moment, efforts are being made to reach an agreement and I hope they will succeed. The coalition’s door is open to negotiations.”