The Problem With the Prime Minister’s Speech – Ono Scholar Dissects

Dr. Odelia Minnes, a legal scholar at Ono Academic College was recently interviewed on Channel 14 TV’s “Open Studio” news program to reflect on the speech given by Bibi Netanyahu, Israel’s Prime Minister, that addressed the growing opposition and protests against the government’s proposed judicial reforms.  In the speech, Netanyahu told the nation that until now, his personal legal status had required him to recuse himself from discussion about the reform. However, the passage of a new bill in Knesset now “unties his hands” and as such he will work to enact broad agreements on the controversial issue of judicial reforms incorporating the ideas of all parties.

In the studio interview, Minnes was asked, “What was the problem with the speech?”  She responded, that this address should have been given on the first day of the government’s attempts to discuss the reform and not several months later. She noted the Prime Minister’s legal encumberments, but said that today there is already a giant fissure that divides the nation, and this speech, on its own, may not be sufficient to heal it. As such she was unsurprised that the speech elicited scepticism from Netanyahu’s political rivals.

Dr. Minnes served has served as a member of the Board of the Second Authority for Television and Radio, and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Minister of Culture and Sports Award for the Preservation and Cultivation of Israeli Cultures.

To watch the entire interview, click here: https://www.ifatmediasite.com/ms/radiomp4/2023/03/23/12061314.mp4