Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said on Monday that he does not expect the major elements of a new judicial overhaul program he recently unveiled with Justice Minister Yariv Levin to be subject to negotiations, indicating that there would be no substantial compromises on the proposal.

Speaking at a press conference with Danish Foreign Minister Lars Rasmussen, Sa’ar said he and Levin “negotiated [the proposal] for a very long time,” dating back to before the war began, when Sa’ar was still in the opposition.

The coalition will take the first procedural steps to start the legislative process for Levin and Sa’ar’s proposal later this week, with the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee scheduling a hearing on the legislation for Wednesday.

The proposal would change the composition of the Judicial Selection Committee and reduce the influence of the judiciary on that panel, create a distinctive method for passing quasi-constitutional Basic Laws, make Basic Laws immune to judicial review, and make judicial review over regular legislation significantly more difficult.

It has already faced heavy criticism from opposition MKs and legal experts, including former Supreme Court president Dorit Beinisch, who said on Monday that the revised overhaul program would politicize the judiciary and therefore undermine its independence. Israel has no constitution, and the governing coalition can steer legislation at will through the Knesset, so the judiciary is the only brake on the power of the executive branch.

During the press conference with Rasmussen, Sa’ar, a former justice minister himself, said he and Levin had been discussing a revised judicial overhaul........

© The Times of Israel