Israeli president tries to mediate controversial judicial reform ahead of vote

Israeli President Isaac Herzog met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this Sunday to try to resolve differences between the government and the opposition ahead of Monday’s parliamentary vote on controversial judicial reform.

This is a proposal by the Israeli executive branch, which provoked several demonstrations against this measure in the country.

The Israeli government is set to approve and enact a law that would bar the Supreme Court and other courts from applying the “reasonableness” test to veto executive decisions, fearing protests would rise if the measure were approved on Monday.

Duke had “an urgent meeting with the prime minister as part of his efforts to reach an agreement between the parties,” said his spokesman, who specified that the president would also meet with opposition leader Yair Lapid tonight.

“This is an emergency moment. An agreement must be reached,” said Duke, who met with Netanyahu shortly after landing at Ben Gurion International Airport after an official visit to the United States.

The meeting took place at the Sheba Medical Center on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, where Netanyahu is recovering last night from an operation in which he inserted a “pacemaker,” a small device to control and stimulate the heart.

The president’s attempt to mediate comes after several setbacks in recent months that led to lengthy negotiations with the parties before they collapsed in June.

This Sunday’s protests follow another historic day of mobilization when more than 550,000 Israelis took to the streets across the country to express their opposition to the reform.

However, several thousand people gathered in Tel Aviv this Sunday to express their support for the reform and express support for Netanyahu and his far-right coalition partners.