Jewish Federation Calls on Israeli Gov’t to Adopt Isaac Herzog Judicial Reform Compromise

The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) called on the Israeli government to adopt President Isaac Herzog’s compromise on judicial reform in a February 21 letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid.

They said that their “love and support” for Israel has caused them to follow “the increasingly acrimonious debate” over judicial reform that would “allow the Knesset to overturn decisions of the Supreme Court with a bare majority vote.” The JFNA urged them to embrace Herzog’s proposed compromise on the matter and pressed the Knesset to make sure that any proposed legislation gets more than just 61 votes. “The essence of democracy is both majority rule and protection of minority rights,” the letter stated. “We recognize that any system of checks and balances will be different than those in our own countries, but such a dramatic change to the Israeli system of governance will have far-reaching consequences in North America, both within the Jewish community and in the broader society.”

JFNA Chair Julie Platt announced in a video posted to social media that Netanyahu and Lapid both responded to the letter, with the former calling for dialogue without precondition and Lapid agreeing with the letter’s principles and calling for legislative activity to be halted. She pointed out there is still a “gap” in the responses. “Surely this difference can be overcome in the interest of the essential unity of the Jewish people,” Platt said.

UPDATE: This morning, after we delivered a letter to @netanyahu & @yairlapid regarding the judicial reform debate, Netanyahu called for dialogue & Lapid responded that he agreed with our principles. Here's Chair Julie Platt's response: pic.twitter.com/dsE1jH93m1

— The Jewish Federations of North America (@jfederations) February 21, 2023

Judah Ari Gross called the JFNA letter “highly unusual” in a Times of Israel article, noting that mainstream American Jewish organizations tend to shy away from voicing their views on domestic Israeli matters. A JFNA spokesperson told Gross that the letter is not out of character for the umbrella organization, as they “have always stood up for the interests of North America’s Jewish community, which is why we’ve been active on issues such as the [Western Wall] agreement, religious pluralism, and an inclusive civil society in Israel for decades.”

On February 19, the Journal and The Tikvah Fund hosted a debate on judicial reform between Member of Knesset Simcha Rothstein, one of the key legislators behind the proposed reforms, and constitutional expert Professor Yaniv Roznai of Reichman University, who has staunchly criticized the proposed reforms. The debate can be seen in its entirety here.