The Kohelet Forum, several of whose leaders were involved in the design of the judicial reform, published their first official announcement since the legislation of the reform began. In the announcement, the members of the forum refer both to the great efforts they were involved in trying to reach a broad consensus, and to the main issue that still remains in dispute, the selection of justices to the Israeli Supreme Court.

At the beginning of the statement, the members of the forum emphasized that they are firm in their position that "comprehensive reform is necessary, given the unbalanced power that the judiciary has amassed vis-a-vis the representative authorities. In the current state of relations between the authorities, an imbalance is created, which causes the systems of government to not function properly and large parts of the people feel that their participation in the democratic process is not equal".

For 10 weeks demonstrators on Israel have claimed the proposed judicial reform will bring about “the end of democracy.”
Professor Eugene @EVKontorovich from the Kohelet Policy Forum says it will restore democracy.
My story for #Newsmax #israel #jerusalem https://t.co/OuKw2x5ZsD

— Daniel Cohen (@DanielCohenTV) March 14, 2023

However, the forum emphasizes that it is very important to achieve a broad agreement on the required changes, and therefore "immediately after the Minister of Justice announced the reform, we started talks and spoke with colleagues who oppose it in an attempt to reach agreements and compromises. We did this out of the belief that it would be very desirable for such a move to pass with a broad consensus, and from an understanding that there is a point in improving the proposed reform in a way that will allow the expansion of its circle of supporters."

"We invested a lot of effort and countless hours together with our partners on the opposing side; dedicated, professional, and demanding people. We were also able to largely maintain the discretion of the moves in order to improve their chances of success. We congratulate additional attempts which were made to reach a compromise, and we wish to express great appreciation for the efforts of the Honorable President of the State to bring the political parties to an agreed-upon outline. We discovered that in relation to many issues, the differences can be reconciled.”

@KoheletForum con't: respects other views and "appropriate protests", while also condemning irresponsible behavior that could harm Israel's resilience and achievements, and ability to built a shared future for the benefit of all segments of Israeli society.

— Prof Gerald M Steinberg (@GeraldNGOM) March 14, 2023

The hopeful message from the forum concludes by saying: “Our hope is that the transfer of an agreed compromise outline will help to heal the public atmosphere. Our hope is that the amendment will allow progress toward the adoption of an agreed constitution for the State of Israel, which will also include a bill of rights. We respect other opinions and proper protest. At the same time, we denounce irresponsible behavior that may damage the resilience and prosperity of the State of Israel, the cohesion of the security forces, and the possibility of building a good shared future for all parts of society in Israel."