Israeli Gov’t Delays Contentious ‘Deri Law’ Vote, Freezes Court Override Bill

The Israeli coalition government announced that it would postpone the preliminary vote on the “Deri law” and freeze the legislative process on one of two versions of the “override bill,” marking a possible turn toward negotiation with the opposition over the government’s highly contested judicial reforms.

The “Deri law” aims to enable Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to reinstate Aryeh Deri after the High Court ruled last month that his appointments as health minister and interior minister suffered from “extreme unreasonableness” due to his recurring criminal convictions. The bill’s supporters argue that the ruling was an improper intervention into political decisions.

Coalition whip MK Ofir Katz announced the decision, saying that it was made to enable continued dialogue with the opposition. However, Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee chairman Simcha Rothman later clarified that the decisions regarding the plenum’s votes were made by “private MKs who initiated those bills” and did not affect the judicial reform, which they said would continue as planned.

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid and Member of Knesset Benny Gantz, head of the National Unity party, are demanding a complete freeze of legislation as a precondition for any dialogue. Protest organizations also called on them not to enter talks until all of the laws were scrapped.