Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned protesters who blocked roads in demonstrations against his government's planned judicial reform in a speech on Thursday evening.
Netanyahu stressed that "Israel will remain a democracy," and claimed that his government had "softened" the reasonability standard bill unilaterally and that the coalition was continuing efforts to reach agreements on the bill. The prime minister added that the bill would "strengthen democracy," while reservists stopping to serve in reserve service would be a danger to democracy.
The prime minister blamed the opposition for the failure of talks, saying the coalition had posed a series of proposals that were all rejected.