The newspaper "The Times of Israel" reported that "the Knesset committee is moving forward with the judicial appointments bill despite 5,400 reservations." The Knesset is nearing approval of one of the coalition's fundamental bills as part of its efforts to reform the judiciary, which would grant the Israeli government control over most judicial appointments if passed in its current form, despite thousands of reservations submitted by the opposition government against the measure.
The committee reviewing the bill is expected to vote decisively on it to become law next week before the Knesset takes a month-long break in April. In a vote that began in the early hours of Wednesday, the head of the Knesset Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee, Simcha Rothman, incited the opposition's anger by shifting from individual voting to voting on the 5,400 reservations in batches. Knesset member Gidi Karaif from the Labor Party, who led the opposition's walk-out from the meeting, stated: "The man never misses an opportunity to show what democracy will look like after the coup legislation is complete." However, while the opposition protested, Rothman received the approval before moving to collective voting on behalf of the Knesset legal advisor and the committee's legal advisor, a standard move when there are more than 2,500 reservations submitted.
The US State Department summoned Israeli Ambassador to Washington Ron Dermer in light of the Knesset's decision to repeal the law for the evacuation of four settlements in the West Bank, which was considered a political precedent reflecting American anger.
