"There will be a legal reform and it will be fully promoted. This is a very necessary thing and we will promote it immediately after the budget is passed. The talks at the president's house are still taking place, because they want to reach a broad agreement. On the face of it, it does not seem to me that this is the direction and there are no agreements." This is what Communications Minister Shlomo Karai tells Maariv.

According to him, "My position is that the rule of the jurists should be stopped. We want a Jewish and democratic state and that the public also determine the appointments to the courts through the Knesset, which should choose the judges. The latest proposal that two judges be appointed by the coalition is acceptable to me. I guarantee that we will already find Moroccan, Tunisian, and Iraqis who do not necessarily represent only the elite, but the periphery."

Regarding the commitment that Netanyahu gave to the credit rating company S&P that the reform would only be passed by agreement, the Communications Minister says: "These are stories and legends. Send me a recording if he really said these things. Write it down in front of you: the reform will return to the Knesset table immediately after the state budget is passed. If there are no agreements, We will implement the mandate we received from the public, including changing the composition of the committee for the selection of judges. This is what I know. Everything else is fiction."

After the operation in Gaza, do you go back on what you said about the pilots?
"I have never said a bad word about the pilots, so I do not retract anything. Again, this is a distortion by the propaganda channels for what I said. I wrote against refuseniks who threatened not to report for the flight or for the reserve. Regarding these I said, 'We don't need them. Go to hell.' the things".

The Minister of Communications intends, after the approval of the budget, to open the broadcasting channels to full competition and allow the regional radio to broadcast on a national basis.
"Channels 12 and 13 are completely propaganda channels. Look at the disproportionate coverage they have of the protest. What poor coverage they gave to the right-wing half-million demonstration, and what a stage they gave to the left-wing demonstration. How they covered the operation in Gaza and gave a platform to Israel's enemies. How can you explain the legal reform when channels 12 and 13 are addicted in advance.

"Channel 14 is a bright spot in the monotony of the other channels. It rises in ratings as the left-wing channels attack the reform, and the need to fix the justice system."

The full interview will be published tomorrow in the "Current Plus" section of "Maariv-Sophashavu"