U.S. President Joe Biden told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop his legislative push to overhaul the judiciary. "Stop now," Biden told the prime minister, according to a report in the New York Times.
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In the report by Tom Freidman said he was summoned by Biden, to the White House following the president's meeting with President Issac Herzog, to ensure his position is clear to all Israelis. The president told Freidman he has respect for the ongoing protests in Israel, which he said shows its vibrant democracy, but also his desire that Netanyahu's coalition halts the push to pass legislation without national consensus, which would definitively weaken the Supreme Court's oversight over government decisions and appointments.
Freidman said in his report, published hours after the White House meeting with Herzog, that when the president asks Netanyahu the kind of questions that were asked in their Monday call, it is out of concern, and not a provocation. In their first conversation in four months, Netanyahu told the president he would complete legislation of the reasonability bill and would then try to reach a broad agreement for the rest of his judicial overhaul, over the Knesset's summer recess.
In his report, Freidman wrote that Biden said he can no longer remain silent. He is concerned about Israel's stability and its future, Friedman said. Biden who is openly supportive of Israel believes it is the most valuable U.S. ally in the Middle East but his message to the prime minister cannot be clearer: Stop now. Passing legislation without a broad agreement would fraction Israeli democracy and its relations with the U.S., perhaps irreparably.
Friedman said he heard from the president that Israelis have strong opinions on the judicial overhaul, and his recommendation to the leadership in Jerusalem was not to rush to legislate and that reaching consensus takes time but is the best way forward. The reporter understood that the president was speaking from his heart and not his head and that he pleaded with Netanyahu to understand that if Israel and the U.S. differ in their democratic values, the special relation that Israel has enjoyed over its 75 years of independence, may not last a further 75 years.
Freidman concluded his report by telling Israelis on the right, the left and the center that Biden may be the last pro-Israeli Democratic president to hold office and they should not ignore his genuine concerns.