US President Joe Biden has spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to express “concern” over his government’s planned overhaul of the country’s judicial system which has sparked widespread protests across Israel and to encourage compromise.
The White House said on Sunday 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 offered by the country’s figurehead president last week.
The official, who requested anonymity to discuss the leaders’ private call, said that Biden spoke to Netanyahu “as a friend of Israel in the hopes that there can be a compromise formula found.”
The White House in a statement added that Biden “underscored his belief that democratic values have always been, and must remain, a hallmark of the US-Israel relationship, that democratic societies are strengthened by genuine checks and balances, and that fundamental changes should be pursued with the broadest possible base of popular support.”
“The President offered support for efforts underway to forge a compromise on proposed judicial reforms consistent with those core principles,” the statement said.
Disruptive protests
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.
Critics say it will upend Israel’s delicate system of checks and balances.
Opponents of the measure have carried out disruptive protests and have 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.
Palestinian officials praised the outcome of the summit in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh. A joint communique said the sides had reaffirmed a commitment to de-escalate and prevent further violence.
Source: TRTworld.com