Israeli Transport Minister Miri Regev said that the government will resume work on the draft judicial amendments - which is met with continuous opposition for the 12th consecutive week on the Israeli street - when the opening of the winter session of the Knesset in mid-May.
Regev said in an interview with the Israeli newspaper Haaretz published on Sunday, "Netanyahu suspended the amendments to open the door to negotiations, if that does not happen we will put it again before the Knesset."
"The draft amendments are only suspended, and there is a very clear date for the next session immediately after Independence Day (May 14), we are continuing to legislate," she said.
The Israeli official, who is from the Likud party, stressed that if the two parties (the government and the opposition) do not reach agreements, "we will return to the broad outlines that were voted on in the first reading, and pass them to the second and third readings."
"A Likud negotiating team has already been appointed to deal with the other party and see if there is any willingness to make reasonable agreements that will meet the expectations of the voters they have chosen for this particular purpose," she said.
Regev said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had taken the decision to suspend the judicial amendments in order to preserve the unity of the people, but she does not support delaying the legislation, saying, "I think we should have at least continued with the Judicial Appointments Committee bill, and submitted it for the second and third readings."
It is noteworthy that Netanyahu had temporarily frozen on March 27 his controversial plan to amend the judiciary, saying – in a televised speech – "I decided to suspend the Knesset vote on legislation to reform the judiciary to reach a broad agreement out of national responsibility and the desire to prevent the division of the nation."
Tens of thousands of Israelis have been demonstrating for 12 weeks against the government-backed judicial "reform" plan, which includes amendments that limit the powers of the Supreme Court (the highest judicial authority) and give the government the power to appoint judges.