Binyamin Netanyahu

Address to the Nation on Suspension of Judicial Reform

delivered 27 March 2023

>> Fair Use Text Excerpts Below <<

"I am aware of the enormous tension that is building between the two sides, between two parts of the nation, and I am attentive to the desire of many citizens to dispel this tension."

"However, there is one thing that I cannot accept. There is an extremist minority that is prepared to tear our country to pieces. It is using violence and incitement, it is threatening to harm elected officials, it is stoking civil war, and it is calling for refusal to serve, which is a terrible crime."

"The State of Israel cannot exist without the IDF and the IDF cannot exist with refusal to serve. Refusal to serve by one side will lead to refusal to serve by the other. Refusal to serve is the end of our country. Therefore, I demand that the heads of the security services and of the army vigorously oppose the phenomenon of refusal to serve, not contain it, not understand it, not accept it -- but put a stop to it."

"Citizens of Israel,

I am unwilling to cut the nation in two. For three months I have repeatedly called for dialogue and also said that I would leave no stone unturned to find a solution because I remember, we remember, that we are not facing enemies but our brothers. I say here and now: There can be no civil war. Israeli society is on a dangerous collision course. We are in the midst of a crisis that is endangering the basic unity between us. This crisis requires all of us to act responsibly."

"Therefore, out of national responsibility, out of a desire to prevent a rift in the nation, I have decided to suspend the second and third readings of the law in the current Knesset session in order to allow time to try and reach that broad consensus, ahead of legislation in the next Knesset session. One way or another, we will enact a reform that will restore the balance between the authorities that has been lost, by preserving -- and I add, even by strengthening -- individual rights."

READ MORE OF ADDRESS AT PM NETANYAHU'S GOVT SITE

Original Text Source: https://www.gov.il/en/departments/news/event-statement270323

Page Updated: 3/29/23

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