American Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said today (Tuesday) that it is the people of Israel who should decide what will be the nature of the legal reforms currently being discussed in the Knesset.
In a press briefing at the end of his visit to Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Egypt, Blinken refused to criticize the content of the reforms and only said that "it is obvious that there is a very lively discussion and its existence is a very healthy part of democracy".
Blinken repeated his words last night that the right way to approve the reform is by building a consensus around it.
However, he emphasized that "the Israelis are the ones who have to decide on this. We are ready to work with Israel to promote these (democratic) values. I am inspired by Israeli democracy," Blinken said regarding the many demonstrations.
He emphasized that shared democratic values underlie the special ties between the US and Israel.
Blinken summarizes his visit to MAZAT, photo: Emil Selman
Blinken called on Israel not to expand Israeli settlement in Judea and Samaria and not to grant legal approval to outposts in the area, as the government plans.
"We call on the parties to avoid unilateral measures that endanger the vision of the two countries. What is required now is to calm the area and prevent a deterioration of the situation," Blinken said.
He noted that some of the staff members who came with him from Washington will remain in Israel, in order to maintain dialogue between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and to work to prevent escalation.
He noted that there are different ideas on how to do this, but declined to elaborate.
Netanyahu and Blinken meeting, photo: E.P
At the end of yesterday's meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the American official added that "we support core democratic principles that include respect for human rights, equality and justice for all, equality for minority groups, the rule of law, freedom of the press, and a thriving civil society." "Israel Today," according to which he said that the demonstrations against the legal reform are an expression of Israel's democratic nature. "The prosperity of civil society in Israel has been fully displayed recently," he said.
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