President of the State Yitzhak Herzog met this evening (Tuesday) with the working teams from the coalition, the Yesh Atid faction, and the State Camp faction for a first dialogue meeting at the President's Office - about legal reform.
The President's Office said: "After about an hour and a half, the meeting, which was conducted in a good spirit, ended. Tomorrow, the President of the State will continue the round of meetings.".
The Yisrael Beiteinu party has established a dialogue team that will be sent on behalf of the faction to hold talks at the President's Office - on the condition that the coalition cancels the placement of the 'Judges Selection Committee' law on the Knesset table.
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The team is headed by Yisrael Beiteinu faction chairman MK Oded Forer, former MK Alex Kushnir, former MK Limor Magen-Telem, and attorney Guy Wagner.
The party's statement said: "This evening, the Yisrael Beiteinu dialogue team was invited to come to the President's Office tomorrow, and we thank the President of the State for his invitation and his intention to hold a dialogue. However, we informed the President that, as far as we are concerned, a real dialogue must take place with clean hands, without tricks and without gimmicks.".
""The fact that less than 24 hours after Netanyahu announced the freezing of the legislation, he placed it on the Knesset table, thereby taking another step towards a coup d'état, is unacceptable.
""Therefore, to the extent that the desire for dialogue is genuine and true, and to the extent that they restore the situation to its former state and cancel the law's placement on the Knesset table, in accordance with the outline proposed by the Knesset's legal advisor, Yisrael Beiteinu will join the dialogue at the President's residence.".
In Israel, Beitenu added: "We call on our members of the opposition factions not to be tempted by Netanyahu's attempts at deception and deceptive practices.".
The Labor Party has formed a negotiating team that will join tomorrow's talks on legal reform at the President's Office. The team members will be: MK Gilad Kariv, MK Efrat Reiten, former Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn and Dr. Tamar Hostovsky-Brandes.
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Protest organizations against the legal reform are attacking opposition leader Yair Lapid and the chairman of the state camp, Benny Gantz, this evening for agreeing to dialogue with the coalition.
""Your decision to enter into talks without demanding the repeal of the legislation and ensuring that no violent militias arise against us is shocking and scandalous. Negotiating with someone who dismissed his own defense minister only because he warned of the dangers of the coup d'état against the people's army is a demonstration of weakness, laxity, and disconnection from the public that is struggling against the coup and the laws of the dictatorship.".
They added: "The false sense of victory that Lapid and Gantz contribute to through their weakness will not deter us from continuing the struggle until the legislation is completely scrapped and the State of Israel is removed from the status of a borderline dictatorial state. As of this moment, the coalition can, with hours' notice, pass the government's takeover of the appointment of judges on a third reading, and under this immediate and real threat, no negotiations are permitted. We call on Lapid and Gantz to immediately cease their willingness to engage in false negotiations that harm the struggle and hereby announce that negotiations on their behalf do not represent us.".
