Biden Says Israel "Cannot Continue Down This Path" Regarding Netanyahu's Judicial Reform

The US president confirms that "in the short term" there are no plans for the Israeli prime minister to visit Washington

MADRID, 29 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The president of the United States, Joe Biden, has maintained that he is "very concerned" with the situation in Israel, stating that "they cannot continue on this path", in reference to the judicial reform proposed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which has caused a wave of protests in the country.

"Like many strong supporters of Israel, I'm very concerned. And I'm concerned that they sort this out, they can't continue down this path. And I've made it clear, I hope the prime minister will act in a way that tries to get some kind of genuine commitment. But That remains to be seen," the president declared on Tuesday.

He has also confirmed that "in the short term" there are no plans for the Israeli prime minister to visit Washington, and also denies having spoken directly with him.

Likewise, he has reiterated that the United States is not going to intervene in Israel in any case, after denying this Monday having financed the massive demonstrations against the Government: "We do not want to intervene. It is as if many things were imploding in the United States, what would we think if someone...? Well, I'm not even going to speculate."

Biden expects Netanyahu to "walk away" from the bill, whose proceedings were paralyzed on Monday. The prime minister stressed "not being willing to accept that there is a minority of extremists who are willing to destroy our country, and drag us into civil war", a measure applauded by the opposition, which has called for a dialogue to agree on the reform.

Netanyahu's statement came after a day of massive mobilizations in the country that was followed by a call for a "historic" strike by the president of the Histadrut - the Israeli trade union organization -, Arnon Bar-David, to which civil servants, medical workers and other public employees joined.

If successful, the reform would give the government full control over the appointment of judges, including those on the Supreme Court, and would greatly limit the court's ability to strike down legislation that violates the Constitution, while allowing Parliament to amend laws it succeeds in. annul with a simple majority of 61 of the 120 deputies.