Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu rebuffed U.S President Joe Biden’s suggestion that the Premier “walks away” from a contentious plan to overhaul the legal system on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, saying the country makes its own decisions.
The exchange was a rare fit of public disagreement between the two close allies and indicates mounting friction between Israel and the U.S. over Netanyahu’s judicial changes, which he postponed after massive protests.
Asked by reporters late Tuesday, March 28, 2023, what he hopes Neyanyahu will do with the legislation, Biden replied, “I hope he walks away from it.”
The U.S President added that Netanyahu’s government “cannot continue down this road” and urged compromise on the plan that is roiling Israel. The President also stepped around U.S. Ambassador Thomas Nides’ suggestion that Netanyahu would soon be invited to the White House, saying, “No, not in the near term.”
“Hopefully the Prime Minister will act in a way that he can try to work out some genuine compromise. But that remains to be seen,” Biden said to reporters as he left North Carolina to return to Washington.
In response to these comments, Netanyahu stated that Israel is sovereign and “makes its decisions by the will of its people and not based on pressures from abroad, including from the best of friends.”
The exchange came a day after Netanyahu called for a halt to his government’s contentious legislation “to avoid civil war” in the wake of two consecutive days of mass protests that drew tens of thousands of people to Israel’s streets.
Netanyahu and his religious and ultranationalist allies announced the judicial overhaul in January just days after forming their government, the most right-wing in Israel’s history.
The proposal has plunged Israel into its worst domestic crisis in decades. Business leaders, top economists and former security chiefs have all come out against the plan, saying that it is pushing the country toward dictatorship.
The plan would give Netanyahu, who is on trial on corruption charges, and his allies the final say in appointing the nation’s judges. It would also give parliament, which is controlled by his allies, authority to overturn Supreme Court decisions and limit the court’s ability to review laws.
Protest Organizers Call For Demonstration In Support Of Biden
Israeli protest organizers called for a demonstration in support of Biden outside the U.S. embassy building in Tel Aviv on Thursday, March 30, 2023, while Netanyahu’s allies doubled down on their criticism.
Speaking to a news agency, Education Minister, Yoav Kisch stated that “a friend may not try to impose on the other regarding internal issues.”
Critics claim that the legislation would concentrate power in the hands of the coalition in parliament and upset the balance of checks and balances between branches of government.
Yair Lapid, the Opposition Leader in Israel’s parliament, noted on Twitter that Israel was the U.S.’s closest allies for decades but “the most radical government in the country’s history ruined that in three months.”
Netanyahu said that he was “striving to achieve via a broad consensus” in talks with opposition leaders that began on Tuesday, March 28, 2023.
When Netanyahu announced a pause to the judicial reform plan, he acknowledged the deep divisions in the country and said that he was hitting the pause button “to prevent a rift in the nation.”
“When there’s an opportunity to avoid civil war through dialogue, I, as Prime Minister, am taking a timeout for dialogue,” he said.
Netanyahu spoke after tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrated outside parliament, and the country’s largest labor union launched a nationwide strike in a dramatic escalation of the mass protest movement against his plan.
READ ALSO: U.S Affirms Corporate Transparency Commitment With Other Nations
