Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he would pursue "active steps" on a contested judicial overhaul this week after what he described as months of wasteful compromise talks with the Opposition.
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"Most of Israeli society understand that there need to be changes in the judicial system," he told his Cabinet. "That's why we will meet this week and commence with active steps ... in a measured way commensurate with the mandate we were given."
The judicial drive, announced in January only a week into Netanyahu's return to office, set off one of Israel's worst political crises in years, with critics at home and abroad dubbing it a threat to the very nature of Israel's democracy.
Advocates of the proposed overhaul say the Supreme Court is elitist, left-leaning, and overreaching, and elected officials should have more power in picking the bench. Critics say that would politicize the courts and threaten judicial independence.
Western allies, including Washington, have urged Netanyahu to pursue broad consensus over reforms to the justice system. Until now, talks with the Opposition have yielded little, compounding uncertainty over the overhaul plan's future that has hit the economy and the shekel. The stakes are rising with two Supreme Court judges retiring in the coming months.
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