Former president Reuven Rivlin on Thursday, criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s announced judicial reform.
Speaking to Ynet’s sister outlet Yedioth Ahronoth, Rivlin said that the government should come to an understanding with the judicial system instead of trying to alter it. “We can’t draft legislation out of revenge or personal interest, Rivlin said adding there must be wide agreement.
The former president said there should be a referendum Rivlin said he had opposed the activism of the Supreme Court as it was advanced by former Chief Justice Aharon Barak in 1992, calling it then “a coup, not a revolution,” warning the justice minister against doing the same, now.
“When you imply that the Knesset will elect judges it means that politicians could decide who will head the Supreme Court, and that would be an unprecedented change," he said.
Israel is in danger," Rivlin said. "What is proposed for the courts will end Israeli democracy. Former Chief Justice Barak said so and I agree with him," he said.
Rivlin famously described the five tribes making up Israeli society in a speech he made at the beginning of his term as president naming the ultra-Orthodox and settlers among them.
“The different tribes would not consider themselves part of the country, but want to rule it instead, to use it as a tool. People need to wake up," he said.