Israel’s President Isaac Herzog floats judicial compromise to prevent ‘constitutional collapse’

Israel’s president floated a compromise plan on Sunday to spare the country what he described as a “constitutional collapse” and possible violence, over a contested judicial overhaul sought by the hard-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The rare prime-time television speech by President Isaac Herzog, whose figurehead role is designed to unite an often fractious society, included an appeal to coalition politicians to hold off on initial legislation steps in parliament which some had planned to begin this week.

The centre-left opposition, accusing Netanyahu of seeking greater control over the court system even as he himself is being tried on corruption charges, have mounted demonstrations and called for nationwide protest strikes when the Knesset convenes.

Netanyahu – who denies wrongdoing in his trial – says the reforms are aimed at restoring balance between Israeli authorities.

“We are on the brink of constitutional and social collapse,” Herzog said. “I feel – we all feel – that we are barely a moment away from a collision – and even from a violent collision.”

There was a similar if more veiled call by the White House, which generally shies away from discussing Israel’s internal affairs.

“The genius of American democracy and Israeli democracy is that they are both built on strong institutions, on checks and balances, on an independent judiciary,” US President Joe Biden said in a statement quoted by The New York Times on Sunday.

“Building consensus for fundamental changes is really important to ensure that the people buy into them so they can be sustained.”