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In talks with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Berlin, Josef Schuster, the President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, has voiced worries about the approach the new Israeli government is taking.

»Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit to Germany is taking place in politically difficult times. I expressed my concern to him that his government is increasingly dividing Israel’s society, and that it is in the process of squandering the trust that is being put in the democratic State of Israel,« Schuster stressed after the meeting. »Jews in Germany and around the world firmly stand by Israel’s side and want to continue to do so.«

In his statements, Schuster was referring to the new Israeli government’s highly controversial justice reform. Netanyahu’s religious right-wing government wants to force it through in a fast-track procedure by the end of the month. Core elements have already been approved in a first reading in parliament.

The reform’s aim is to deliberately weaken the independent judiciary. Critics believe it is endangering the separation of powers which is considered one of the pillars of democracy. There have been massive protests against the judicial reform for more than two months. ja