Israel must compromise, says JFNA at end of visit to discuss judicial reform

WASHINGTON - 30 Jewish Federation leaders across North America completed a 24-hour visit to Israel on Wednesday amid Israel’s proposed judicial overhaul. The delegation included JFNA CEO Eric Fingerhut and Chair of the Board Julie Platt. They called for a compromised solution and applauded President Herzog’s effort to find an agreed solution and urged “all sides to immediately engage with him on this basis.”

They met with several Knesset Members from different parties, and with Israeli President Isaac Herzog. “We, leaders from Jewish communities across North America, have made this extraordinary trip to Israel to show our love for our Israeli brothers and sisters at this challenging time,” they said in a joint statement following the visit. “We were welcomed with love by members of the government, the opposition, the protest movement, and other key sectors of civil society and the business community.”

“Our communities share a deep concern for the divisions that the judicial reform debate is creating in Israel and among Jews worldwide, and we are worried that certain aspects of the proposed reforms could have a very negative impact on the relationship between our communities and Israel,” the statement reads.

“We urged all the leaders we spoke with to work with President Herzog to negotiate a solution that could have broad support across Israeli society,” they continued. “While each of the parties has, to one extent or another, committed itself to seeking compromise, no process other than President Herzog’s efforts are underway at the intensity required to achieve success.”

Calls for compromise

They went on to say that their view is “that the time for compromise is now.”

“Continuing to move the bills forward as currently formulated is causing harm that will not be easily repaired,” they added. “We did not advocate for a specific plan, but we did note that the essence of democracy is both majority rule and protection of minority rights. This balance is preserved through establishing checks and balances between legislative authority and an independent judiciary.”

“We urged that a clearly articulated system of checks and balances be in the final plan,” the statement reads. “We appreciate the efforts of President Isaac Herzog to carefully develop compromise proposals with leading experts of widely differing views. His work should form the basis of a final agreement. We urge all sides to immediately engage with him on this basis.”

Julie Platt, Chair of the board of Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) said: “The reason we came is really out of our love for the state of Israel, and to not only express our unconditional support for the state of Israel, but to come when we felt they were in crisis.”

“Because we care not only as a diaspora community, but because we actually all truly care and support the state of Israel,” she said.

“We felt this was a moment for us to try to learn about what's happening in this moment and to express our deep and abiding hope that every side of this conversation would embrace President Herzog's hope and plans for compromise,” said Platt.

“Most of us landed late Tuesday afternoon and the bus has already left for the airport,” she said. “We had an extremely rigorous schedule of meetings, speaking to people on many sides of the conversation; we met with with many MKs and we shared our hopes and listened to their thoughts about a possible compromise. And we're pretty aggressive in trying to move everybody towards understanding how significant it is for the North American diaspora to feel a sense of a vibrant Jewish democracy in Israel.”

“The timetable that had been suggested after the first reading with the hopes of legislation being passed prior to the Passover break, made us all feel very concerned and made a group of people drop everything and get on planes from everywhere and come and meet here to listen and to learn,” she said. “These conversations all included the recognized need for some judicial reform with a commitment to the needs of compromise.”

The American Jewish Committee issued a statement as well following a proposed compromise by Israeli President Isaac Herzog. "We commend President Herzog's remarkable effort to reach a resolution for the good of the State of Israel," AJC said. "We believe all sides should expeditiously work to forge a compromise that preserves Israel’s vibrant democracy and the principle of judicial independence on fundamental issues. The final outcome of this process should reflect the broadest possible consensus – not what is politically expedient in the short term.""AJC continues to urge compromise that maintains necessary checks and balances and protects minority rights and civil liberties," the group said in a statement.