Israel: coalition will damage the economy and the country, claims Lapid

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid MK warned on Sunday that Israel’s ruling coalition will cause the economy to deteriorate and society to collapse. He issued his warning on Facebook.

“In the coming days [Justice Minister Yariv] Levin and [head of the Knesset Law and Justice Committee Simcha] Rothman will do everything to blow up the possibility that we will return to the President’s Residence,” wrote Lapid. “They will take the discussions in the Constitution Committee to the extreme [and] drag the country into a head-on confrontation.”

Discussions have been taking place in the occupation state at the president’s official residence to consider the government’s proposed judicial overhaul, a hugely contentious issue in Israel.

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Lapid explained that he expects the price of this to be the deterioration of the economy; a soaring cost of living; and seriously damaged security. Moreover, “The countries of the world will turn their backs on us, [and] Israeli society will collapse.”

The chairman of Yesh Atid party pointed out that the discussions in the President’s Residence are not easy. “They have been conducting tough, mistrustful and exhausting negotiations there on each and every clause. However, we will not bow down and will never give up on liberal values, but not every change is the end of democracy and not every amendment is a reason for civil war.”

If the government tries to take over the Judicial Selection Committee or erode the independence of the Supreme Court, insisted Lapid, the opposition will immediately leave the President’s Residence. “As long as this is not on the agenda, we should continue to try to reach an agreed outline that will preserve Israeli democracy.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said the opposition figure, must stop the “unilateral legislative processes” in the Constitutional Committee before they get out of control if he wants to prevent the “internal collapse of Israel” and complete the process of establishing the Judicial Selection Committee.

According to Lapid, “It is simple: all that Netanyahu should do is to propose one vote in the plenum, which can be held in the next few days. After that we can return to the President’s Residence and continue the negotiations until we reach agreements that will preserve democracy and prevent a national disaster.”

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