Joe Biden calls Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu to ‘express concern’ over judicial plan

In the call, the White House said Biden reiterated US concerns about the measure to roll back the judiciary’s insulation from the country’s political system
Netanyahu said on Sunday the legal changes would be carried out responsibly while protecting the basic rights of all Israelis

Israel

Associated Press

Published: 6:25am, 20 Mar 2023

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US President Joe Biden spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday to “express concern” over his government’s planned overhaul of the country’s judicial system that has sparked widespread protests across Israel and to encourage compromise.

The White House said Biden reiterated US concerns about the measure to roll back the judiciary’s insulation from the country’s political system, in a call a senior administration official described as candid and constructive. There was no immediate indication that Netanyahu was shying away from the action, after rejecting a compromise last week offered by the country’s figurehead president.

Netanyahu said on Sunday the legal changes would be carried out responsibly while protecting the basic rights of all Israelis. His government – the country’s most right-wing ever – says the overhaul is meant to correct an imbalance that has given the courts too much power and prevented lawmakers from carrying out the voting public’s will.

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Critics say it will upend Israel’s delicate system of checks and balances and slide the country toward authoritarianism. Opponents of the measure have carried out disruptive protests, and has even embroiled the country’s military, after more than 700 elite officers from the Air Force, special forces and Mossad said they would stop volunteering for duty.

The conversation followed a Sunday meeting in Egypt between Israeli and Palestinian officials in which they pledged to take steps to lower tensions ahead of a sensitive holiday season. The Biden administration praised the outcome of the summit in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, where a joint communique said the sides had reaffirmed a commitment to de-escalate and prevent further violence.