Israeli President Isaac Herzog held a discussion recently with National Unity chairman MK Benny Gantz and Yesh Atid chairman MK Yair Lapid, to discuss the possibility of renewing negotiations on the judicial reform, Israel Hayom reported.
According to the report, Lapid is still firm about his refusal to return to the negotiation table without a lengthy pause on the legislation.
"After [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu abandoned the agreements on the reasonableness standard, Lapid suggested freezng the legislation for 18 months, which would enable significant negotiations leading to broad agreements and prevent a rift in Israeli society. That offer still stands," those close to Lapid claimed.
Sources close to Gantz said, "We will not discuss the content of the talks with the President. If Gantz can bring about agreements - he will do so."
A statement from the President's Residence said, "The President and his staff are working tirelessly with the goal of creating areas of agreement, which Israeli society so much needs. We have been receiving many proposals, which are all thoroughly examined, with the goal of bringing about agreements while protecting the basic principles of democracy and the rule of law. It should be emphasized that at this point, there are no agreements."
In June, Lapid and Gantz froze negotiations on the judicial reform, saying that there is no point in continuing discussions until there is a meeting of the Judicial Selection Committee. However, the composition of that committee is one of the issues under discussion in the negotiations, and the committee has not been convened due to the disagreements over its composition.