Netanyahu, Lapid Trade Barbs amid Increasing Political Division

By Staff, Agencies

Addressing the public amid increasingly rancorous political divisions, Zionist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday said he was open to talks on his government’s efforts to radically restructure the ‘judicial’ system, while blaming his rivals for the lack of negotiations — but signaling at the same time that the coalition would continue with its legislative push, despite the entity’s so-called President Isaac Herzog calling for the process to be temporarily halted.

“People of ‘Israel,’ it’s time to talk,” Netanyahu said in a statement.

He said he was aware of worries over the plan to overhaul the Zionist ‘judiciary,’ adding that he fully backs negotiations “to reach agreements or at least minimize the disagreements between us.”

Netanyahu said talks should be held “without preconditions, without excuses.”

Meanwhile, opposition leaders have said the coalition’s legislative blitz must be paused for talks to be held — a position backed by Herzog — while the coalition has dismissed this as an illegitimate precondition and refuses to halt the legislation.

Firing back at Netanyahu, opposition leader Yair Lapid accused him of “lies and spin,” saying the opposition has sought “for long weeks to hold discussions” with the coalition.

“The president pled with them to stop the legislation and hold talks, the Americans asked them to stop the legislation and hold talks, and the entire people of ‘Israel’ are asking the government to prevent a terrible rupture in the people, to stop this frenzy,” Lapid said in a statement.

Lapid added that talks are possible immediately if “you call the president, tell him you are stopping all ‘legislative’ processes and starting discussions based on the president’s proposal.”

The back-and-forth came after the Knesset passed the first reading of a bill that makes up a significant part of the controversial ‘judicial’ overhaul.

Speaking earlier Tuesday, Herzog said there was a feeling of “sorrow” after the vote and that the burden lies with the government to reach out and negotiate with the opposition.