Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his government’s deeply controversial judicial overhaul will no longer include a provision to remove Supreme Court oversight of legislation.
The provision would have allowed parliament to pass laws that are immune from judicial review, a measure that critics say would render Israel’s legal system pointless.
The removal of the “override clause” will rankle many in Mr Netanyahu’s coalition, the most right-wing in Israel’s history.
The clause is particularly important to ultra-Orthodox parties in the coalition, who view it as a way of ensuring that men in the community continue to be exempt from military service, a policy many Israelis object to.
.Mr Netanyahu criticised the opposition’s approach to negotiations over the reforms, stewarded by President Isaac Herzog, that began after he suspended moves to pass the reform in March.
Mr Netanyahu also promised to revise another controversial piece of the legislation, which would have given the government more say in the appointment of judges.
The judicial reforms have also raised concern among Israel’s western allies, most notably the US.
Mr Netanyahu downplayed not having received an invitation to the White House six months after his government took office.
