Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended a key vote on Monday regarding his controversial judicial reform legislation after a medical emergency where he was given an implant for a pacemaker.
In a statement, Netanyahu said he was "doing excellently" after the unscheduled implant to show his support for the judicial reform. The legislation has become controversial, resulting in nationwide protests as residents demand a compromise.
Netanyahu Attends Key Vote on Judicial Reform
The situation is considered Israel's worst domestic crisis in the last few decades. It comes as President Isaac Herzog met with Netanyahu on Sunday in the hospital that was treating the latter. The former was hoping that he could close the rifts that have shown up between the religious-nationalist ruling coalition and opposition parties.
Herzog said that the situation now can be considered an emergency, arguing that an agreement must be reached. His remarks come as he was the one who mediated fruitless negotiations in March and June, as per Reuters.
The Knesset is scheduled to hold final readings of Netanyahu's bill that would limit the Israeli Supreme Court's powers to overrule some government decisions. If it passes, it would be the first reform written into law of a package that critics fear seeks to curb judicial independence.
It is something that many believe that Netanyahu, who is currently on trial on corruption charges that he has denied, insists is required to balance the country's branches of government. The 73-year-old prime minister was also recently rushed to a hospital near Tel Aviv late Saturday.
It came after a heart monitor, implanted a week earlier and described as a dehydration episode, detected what doctors called a "temporary arrhythmia." In a video where he was seen wearing a blazer, he said that they are continuing to pursue the completion of the legislation.
Thousands of Israelis marched up to Jerusalem over the weekend to protest Netanyahu's judicial reform plan. According to the New York Times, many of the people who attended the demonstrations were driven by an urgent fear that the government was trying to steal the country and seize control of it politically.
Rising Tensions Over New Measure
In a statement, a 52-year-old museum curator from Tel Aviv, Mira Lapidot, said that the situation felt like a feeling of looting. She noted that it was as if the country was their spoils and that everything was theirs for the taking.
On the other hand, those who support the move largely believe the opposite, which is that political opposition is refusing to accept its losses. A podcast host from Efrat, 49-year-old Avi Abelow, said the demonstrations could no longer be considered protests but a coup.
He noted they are willing to destroy the unity between the Israeli people and the Israeli Army. Abelow also accused the political opposition, which does not support the judicial reform, of trying to destroy Israeli democracy to hold on to their power.
On top of stripping the Supreme Court of the power to declare the government decisions unreasonable, the judicial reform measure would give the coalition government more control over appointing the court's judges. It would also remove independent legal advisors from government ministries, said CNN.
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