The Exec­u­tive Coun­cil of Aus­tralian Jew­ry and the Zion­ist Fed­er­a­tion of Aus­tralia, the rep­re­sen­ta­tive roof bod­ies of the Aus­tralian Jew­ish com­mu­ni­ty, have issued this joint state­ment in light of the announce­ment that the Israeli gov­ern­ment will pause the pro­posed leg­isla­tive over­haul of Israel’s judi­cial sys­tem.

We wel­come the announce­ment and also the announce­ment by Israeli oppo­si­tion lead­ers that they will engage in nego­ti­a­tions with the gov­ern­ment.

Our con­sis­tent and strong­ly-held posi­tion is that sub­stan­tial reforms such as these should be under­tak­en care­ful­ly, with as much nego­ti­a­tion and con­sen­sus-build­ing as pos­si­ble.

We have watched with con­cern as Israeli soci­ety has been riv­en on this issue. We have been in awe of the hun­dreds of thou­sands of Israelis from across the polit­i­cal divide and from many sec­tors who have come togeth­er to protest week after week. We have watched them protest peace­ful­ly, with a deep love of coun­try. We believe the same love for Israel is shared by those who sup­port the judi­cial over­haul.

We urge all par­ties and sec­tors of Israeli soci­ety to come togeth­er now, out of their shared love of coun­try, to find mutu­al com­pro­mis­es, to build con­sen­sus and to enact reforms that the over­whelm­ing major­i­ty of Israelis will sup­port both now and into the future to sus­tain the real­i­ty of Israel as a demo­c­ra­t­ic, Jew­ish State that respects the rule of law.

Israeli soci­ety and its polit­i­cal sys­tem have been severe­ly chal­lenged over these past few months, and have demon­strat­ed their strength and resilience.  Now is the time for each side to acknowl­edge the gen­uine con­cerns of the oth­er, and to seek a way for­ward in a spir­it of com­pro­mise.

For fur­ther com­ment:

• Jil­lian Segal AO, Pres­i­dent, Exec­u­tive Coun­cil of Aus­tralian Jew­ry, president@ecaj.org.au, 02–8353 8500
• Jere­my Leibler, Pres­i­dent, Zion­ist Fed­er­a­tion of Aus­tralia, jleibler@abl.com.au, 0417 382 387