Former Israeli PM Olmert warns ‘we are going into civil war now’

Following the Knesset's passing of the first bill of the Israeli government's controversial judicial overhaul, Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Britain’s Channel 4 on Monday that the country is headed for civil war following the bill’s passing.

“This is a serious threat. It’s never happened before,” Olmert said. “We are going into a civil war now — civil disobedience with all of the possible ramifications to the stability of the state and the ability of the government to perform, to the obedience of the large part of the Israeli population to a government which is perceived by a large part of the population to be illegitimate.”

“The government has decided to threaten the foundations of Israeli democracy, and this is not something that we can accept or tolerate,” Olmert said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the Reasonableness Standard Bill, arguing that it restores the balance between Israel’s judiciary and legislative branches.

He addressed the Israeli public on Monday following the dramatic passing of the contentious bill that has caused sharp divisions in Israeli society.

"Today we carried out a required democratic move. The move was aimed at restoring a degree of balance between the authorities, which was here for 50 years. We passed the amendment on the clause of reasonableness so that the elected government could lead the policy in accordance with the decision of the majority of the country's citizens," stated Netanyahu.