Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu to make new push on judicial reforms 'this week'

Opposition leader Yair Lapid warns government faces collapse over the controversial plan

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at a cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem. AFP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will press on with controversial judicial reforms “this week”, despite more than six months of protests over the measures that opponents have labelled an attempted coup.

Mr Netanyahu backed reforms to the country’s judiciary in January, pressing for measures that would give the government a stronger say in Supreme Court appointments through greater control of the Judicial Selection Committee.

The reforms would also give parliament the ability to overturn Supreme Court judgments on whether laws were unconstitutional, giving lawmakers the chance to reintroduce the legislation with a simple majority vote.

Defenders of the proposed reforms say the committee’s composition is weighted in favour of unelected officials, therefore the reforms would strengthen democracy in Israel.

A protest against the hard-right government's controversial judicial reform plans in Tel Aviv on June 10. AFP

Those against the reforms say it would undermine what is currently a balanced committee composition, tipping the balance of power in Israel towards the government.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said on Facebook on Sunday that if Mr Netanyahu did not back down on the reforms, he would “discover he's the Prime Minister of less than half of Israel”.

“We will come together this week and begin the practical measures,” Mr Netanyahu said at the start of a weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.

Mr Netanyahu paused the legislative process in March and launched cross-party talks over the matter, but opponents Mr Lapid and Benny Gantz pulled out of the discussions on Wednesday.

The country's top politicians blamed each other for the breakdown in negotiations.

Mr Netanyahu accused the opposition leaders of “a charade of fake talks”, after his predecessor Mr Lapid said the Prime Minister had only been “pretending that he wants negotiations”.

Speaking on Sunday, Mr Netanyahu pledged to press forward with the judicial reforms “in a measured and responsible way” without giving further details.