WEST BANK (Dispatches) – Zionist president Isaac Herzog has described the situation for the occupying regime as “very serious” amid the debate on the regime’s move seeking judiciary overhaul.
“We are in a serious and very serious situation that may have political, economic, social and security consequences,” Herzog said in a ceremony in Tel Aviv, according to The Times of Israel newspaper.
The president noted that he devoted all his time and energy to find an understanding that would save the country from the constitutional and social crisis.
Herzog confirmed that he is meeting with all parties to the crisis from the coalition and the opposition.
“This is not a political compromise, this is a Sisyphean effort to find a correct formula of balance and hope. Because the situation is very difficult and worrying,” he warned.
The president’s efforts for mediation between the coalition and the opposition have not yet yielded significant progress.
Speaking in the same ceremony, Esther Hayut, the head of the supreme court, expressed her concern over the cabinet’s move which she said would undermine “Israeli unity.”
The plan has triggered mass protests across the occupied territories for more than 10 weeks.
The change would severely limit the power of the supreme court, give the cabinet the power to choose judges and end the appointment of legal advisers to ministries by the attorney general.
Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, has insisted on his plan.
The occupying regime’s parliament on Tuesday advanced the bill that would let lawmakers pass laws that the supreme court cannot overturn.
In an overnight session that stretched into early morning, the Knesset gave initial approval to several pieces of legislation, including a bill protecting the prime minister from being declared unfit for office, or incapacitated, and another to allow settlements in the northern West Bank.
A third piece of legislation that was approved would let parliament pass laws impervious to judicial review, with a simple majority of 61 members in the regime’s 120-seat parliament, the Knesset.
Each of the bills require additional votes before being enshrined into law.