Netanyahu downplays disagreement with Joe Biden over judicial reform
Ryan King
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu downplayed his disagreement with President Joe Biden over his proposed judicial reforms.
Biden publicly conveyed that he was “very concerned” about Netanyahu’s reform package, which has been put on hold, and hoped that he “walks away from” it. While affirming his support for the reforms, Netanyahu argued the dust-up did not negatively affect relations with Washington.
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“President Biden has been a great friend of Israel. I’ve known him for 40 years,” Netanyahu told NBC’s Meet the Press. “I know his commitment to Israel’s security. Friends can have disagreements on occasion, but I share with them the view that we should act — and not only share the view, I’m actually acting on it to try to reach a broad consensus.”
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Under his proposal, Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, would attain an avenue to overturn Supreme Court rulings. Thousands of critics took to the streets in protest, fretting the move could weaken the Jewish State’s democracy.
In response to backlash over the overhaul, which included international critiques, Netanyahu postponed the move until at least the summertime legislative session. Netanyahu has maintained the reforms are necessary to rein in judicial overreach.
“I don’t want the parliament overruling automatically every decision of the Supreme Court. So I’ve decided to take time out, try to get a balance between the opposing views,” Netanyahu added.
Netanyahu also affirmed Israel’s kinship with the U.S., contending that ties are even more robust than they were two decades ago.
“I always say America is Israel’s indispensable and, by far, the best ally, “Netanyahu said. “I don’t think you have a better ally in the world than Israel because Israel has become a great technological power and a great asset to the United States. And our cooperation, mutual cooperation, saves a lot of American and Israeli lives.”
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Host Chuck Todd also pressed Netanyahu about revelations from the recent bunch of U.S. national security files that leaked. Todd noted that one of the leaked files suggested that Mossad, Israel’s national intelligence agency, “advocated for its members to protest the current government.”
“God no … I value American intelligence a little more than that, and I think they probably know the truth,” Netanyahu replied. “The truth is that the Mossad legal adviser said that under Israeli law, junior members of Mossad can participate in demonstrations, not senior members. That’s, I think, what led to this misunderstanding.”