Lieberman calls for opposition leader to stop talks judicial overhaul crisis

Middle East Monitor  /  April 4, 2023

Chairman of Jewish Home Party Avigdor Lieberman yesterday called on opposition leader Yair Lapid to immediately stop talks on judicial overhaul crisis.

On Twitter, Lieberman wrote: “Enough with being a buffoon. I am calling for the teams of Yesh Atid and the state camp to stop participating in [Prime Minister] Bibi’s blame game. It’s time for you to say in a clear voice: we are not cooperating with Netanyahu’s fraud.”

He referred to the talks as an attempt by Netanyahu to stop the state-wide protest, which became fiercer after Defence Minister Yoav Gallant was fired.

This came after comments made by Shas Leader Aryeh Deri who said that the judicial overhaul bill is ready for second and third readings.

Hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared the suspension of the process of judicial overhaul, Deri spoke to his party’s newspaper Haderech praising the measure and recognising the coalition would have broken if the plan was not postponed.

Deri urged the opposition leaders to take advantage of the postponement and warned that should they fail, the government could still push through the original proposals.

“Let’s not forget that the laws are ready for a second and third reading. We do not need to wait two more months,” he said. “Whenever we want we can convene the plenum and pass the laws.”