Netanyahu agrees to pause judicial overhaul plans following widespread unrest in Israel
Story by Patrick Smith and Josh Lederman • 2h ago
JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed Monday evening to pause a divisive plan to overhaul the country’s judicial system until the next parliament session, according to a statement from one of the coalition partner parties, following widespread unrest in Israel.
Israel had been paralyzed Monday after hundreds of thousands of people stopped working to protest the proposal.
It followed unrest Sunday night after Netanyahu fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who became the first member of his Likud Party to speak out against the proposed changes. Gallant had warned that divisions over the plans threatened Israel’s security.
Tens of thousands protested in Tel Aviv, where demonstrators were sprayed with water cannons. Beersheba, Haifa and Jerusalem also saw unrest. At one point, crowds in Jerusalem gathered outside Netanyahu’s home and broke through a security cordon, Reuters reported.
The proposal by Netanyahu’s hard-right coalition in January would threaten the independence of the Supreme Court and limit judges’ powers, according to critics. It has faced stiff opposition, with Israelis regularly taking to the streets to demonstrate.
On Monday, Israel’s largest trade union called for a general strike that halted everything from medical services to flights to meals served by McDonald's restaurants.
Large crowds of protesters and counter-protesters gathered Monday in the shadow of the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, many waving Israeli flags. Some chanted in megaphones or banged on drums.
Leah Basa, 23, said she felt Netanyahu's plan would lead to the "downfall of democracy."
"I'm protesting the reform which is going to get rid of the checks and balances and get rid of the separation of powers," she said, adding, "I think that it is causing so many rips in society. No matter which side wins, nobody is going to win in the end because whether the reform passes or doesn't both sides just hate each other so much."
Salome Dunaevsky, 57, said she felt Netanyahu's plan would lead to chaos.
"It gives total power, almost total power, to the politicians," she said. "It means that there is no rule. You can do whatever."
Israel’s diplomatic staff were among those on strike Monday on the advice of their trade union, one diplomat who was not authorized to brief the media told NBC News. Israel’s embassies in Washington and around the world shut as a result and some diplomats replaced their social media profile pictures with the Israeli flag.
Netanyahu appealed for calm in the afternoon on social media as thousands flooded the streets of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, waving Israeli flags and placards.
“I call on all the demonstrators in Jerusalem, on the right and the left, to behave responsibly and not to act violently. We are brothers,” he said on Twitter.
Israel judicial reform protests (Ohad Zwigenberg / AP)© Provided by NBC News
Peter Lerner, the head of international relations at Histadrut, the Israeli trade union umbrella group representing some 700,000 workers, tweeted a video of cheering activists. He said the group’s chairman, Arnon Bar-David, had just told the meeting: “We are stopping the legal revolution.”
“This is the time that together we bring Israel back to sanity and to the right path. This is the time that we together say ‘enough’ and it doesn’t matter if we are right or left,” Histadrut said in a statement.
The unrest brought many daily operations to a halt. Israel's airport authority confirmed just before 11 a.m. local time (4 a.m. ET) that all departing flights from Ben-Gurion International Airport would be grounded.
Two of Israel’s main seaports, Haifa and Ashdod, said in separate statements seen by Reuters that they would shut down in support of the general strike.
Big brands are taking part in the protest: McDonald's said it would begin closing its restaurants across the country from midday (5 a.m. ET) before a full national closure from 2 p.m. (7 a.m. ET).
Israel’s leading universities will also be closed Monday in protest against both Netanyahu's judicial overhaul plan and Gallant’s firing.
“We, the presidents and rectors of the research universities in Israel, express deep concern about the division and polarization in Israeli society and processes that could lead to a real damage to the national strength and stability of the State of Israel,” they said in a statement. Netanyahu’s planned changes could lead to a “brain drain” in Israel and discourage international students, the statement added.
In an interview with Piers Morgan on Talk TV released Monday, Netanyahu defended his policy and said he was confident the movement to overturn the new law would not last.
“People will see in the end that Israel was a democracy, is a democracy and will be even a stronger democracy after this democratic reform,” he said.
He argued that the changes — which allow the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, to overrule almost all Supreme Court decisions and appoint judges — were necessary to curtail the increased power of the judiciary.
Critics who call the move autocratic “had not read the bill,” he said.
Netanyahu was in London on Friday to meet with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Tens of thousands of Israelis have poured into the streets across the country in a spontaneous outburst of anger after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly fired his defense minister for challenging the Israeli leader's judicial overhaul plan. (Oren Ziv / AP)© Oren Ziv
Some of the prime minister's closest allies appeared intent on making sure the legislation passed.
"Under no circumstances should the reform to fix the justice system and strengthen Israeli democracy be stopped," said Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. In a video statement he added that to ditch the judiciary plan would mean submitting "to violence, anarchy and wild strikes."
Smotrich, who has a history of making controversial remarks and last week said there was no such thing as a Palestinian people, said he would attend a pro-government protest in Jerusalem later on Monday.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog was among those calling for the changes to be halted.
“The entire nation is rapt with deep worry. Our security, economy, society — all are under threat,” he said in a statement Monday.
Israel’s consul general in New York, Asaf Zamir, announced Sunday night he would resign after 18 months in the job, over the judicial changes and the defense minister’s firing.
International pressure was also growing over Netanyahu’s planned overhaul.
The White House released a statement from the National Security Council on Sunday night that said the most recent protests “further underscore the urgent need for compromise.”
“As the president recently discussed with Prime Minister Netanyahu, democratic values have always been, and must remain, a hallmark of the U.S.-Israel relationship,” it said.
Patrick Smith reported from London. Ali Zelenko reported from Jerusalem.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Story by Patrick Smith and Josh Lederman • 2h ago
JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed Monday evening to pause a divisive plan to overhaul the country’s judicial system until the next parliament session, according to a statement from one of the coalition partner parties, following widespread unrest in Israel.
Israel had been paralyzed Monday after hundreds of thousands of people stopped working to protest the proposal.
It followed unrest Sunday night after Netanyahu fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who became the first member of his Likud Party to speak out against the proposed changes. Gallant had warned that divisions over the plans threatened Israel’s security.
Tens of thousands protested in Tel Aviv, where demonstrators were sprayed with water cannons. Beersheba, Haifa and Jerusalem also saw unrest. At one point, crowds in Jerusalem gathered outside Netanyahu’s home and broke through a security cordon, Reuters reported.
The proposal by Netanyahu’s hard-right coalition in January would threaten the independence of the Supreme Court and limit judges’ powers, according to critics. It has faced stiff opposition, with Israelis regularly taking to the streets to demonstrate.
On Monday, Israel’s largest trade union called for a general strike that halted everything from medical services to flights to meals served by McDonald's restaurants.
Large crowds of protesters and counter-protesters gathered Monday in the shadow of the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, many waving Israeli flags. Some chanted in megaphones or banged on drums.
Leah Basa, 23, said she felt Netanyahu's plan would lead to the "downfall of democracy."
"I'm protesting the reform which is going to get rid of the checks and balances and get rid of the separation of powers," she said, adding, "I think that it is causing so many rips in society. No matter which side wins, nobody is going to win in the end because whether the reform passes or doesn't both sides just hate each other so much."
Salome Dunaevsky, 57, said she felt Netanyahu's plan would lead to chaos.
"It gives total power, almost total power, to the politicians," she said. "It means that there is no rule. You can do whatever."
Israel’s diplomatic staff were among those on strike Monday on the advice of their trade union, one diplomat who was not authorized to brief the media told NBC News. Israel’s embassies in Washington and around the world shut as a result and some diplomats replaced their social media profile pictures with the Israeli flag.
Netanyahu appealed for calm in the afternoon on social media as thousands flooded the streets of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, waving Israeli flags and placards.
“I call on all the demonstrators in Jerusalem, on the right and the left, to behave responsibly and not to act violently. We are brothers,” he said on Twitter.
Israel judicial reform protests (Ohad Zwigenberg / AP)© Provided by NBC News
Peter Lerner, the head of international relations at Histadrut, the Israeli trade union umbrella group representing some 700,000 workers, tweeted a video of cheering activists. He said the group’s chairman, Arnon Bar-David, had just told the meeting: “We are stopping the legal revolution.”
“This is the time that together we bring Israel back to sanity and to the right path. This is the time that we together say ‘enough’ and it doesn’t matter if we are right or left,” Histadrut said in a statement.
The unrest brought many daily operations to a halt. Israel's airport authority confirmed just before 11 a.m. local time (4 a.m. ET) that all departing flights from Ben-Gurion International Airport would be grounded.
Two of Israel’s main seaports, Haifa and Ashdod, said in separate statements seen by Reuters that they would shut down in support of the general strike.
Big brands are taking part in the protest: McDonald's said it would begin closing its restaurants across the country from midday (5 a.m. ET) before a full national closure from 2 p.m. (7 a.m. ET).
Israel’s leading universities will also be closed Monday in protest against both Netanyahu's judicial overhaul plan and Gallant’s firing.
“We, the presidents and rectors of the research universities in Israel, express deep concern about the division and polarization in Israeli society and processes that could lead to a real damage to the national strength and stability of the State of Israel,” they said in a statement. Netanyahu’s planned changes could lead to a “brain drain” in Israel and discourage international students, the statement added.
In an interview with Piers Morgan on Talk TV released Monday, Netanyahu defended his policy and said he was confident the movement to overturn the new law would not last.
“People will see in the end that Israel was a democracy, is a democracy and will be even a stronger democracy after this democratic reform,” he said.
He argued that the changes — which allow the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, to overrule almost all Supreme Court decisions and appoint judges — were necessary to curtail the increased power of the judiciary.
Critics who call the move autocratic “had not read the bill,” he said.
Netanyahu was in London on Friday to meet with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Tens of thousands of Israelis have poured into the streets across the country in a spontaneous outburst of anger after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly fired his defense minister for challenging the Israeli leader's judicial overhaul plan. (Oren Ziv / AP)© Oren Ziv
Some of the prime minister's closest allies appeared intent on making sure the legislation passed.
"Under no circumstances should the reform to fix the justice system and strengthen Israeli democracy be stopped," said Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. In a video statement he added that to ditch the judiciary plan would mean submitting "to violence, anarchy and wild strikes."
Smotrich, who has a history of making controversial remarks and last week said there was no such thing as a Palestinian people, said he would attend a pro-government protest in Jerusalem later on Monday.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog was among those calling for the changes to be halted.
“The entire nation is rapt with deep worry. Our security, economy, society — all are under threat,” he said in a statement Monday.
Israel’s consul general in New York, Asaf Zamir, announced Sunday night he would resign after 18 months in the job, over the judicial changes and the defense minister’s firing.
International pressure was also growing over Netanyahu’s planned overhaul.
The White House released a statement from the National Security Council on Sunday night that said the most recent protests “further underscore the urgent need for compromise.”
“As the president recently discussed with Prime Minister Netanyahu, democratic values have always been, and must remain, a hallmark of the U.S.-Israel relationship,” it said.
Patrick Smith reported from London. Ali Zelenko reported from Jerusalem.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Netanyahu ally agrees to delay Israeli judicial overhaul amid mass protests
Story by Laura Kelly •
A key ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday agreed to delay plans to push through a controversial judicial overhaul that has drawn unprecedented public, government and military opposition and raised alarm from the U.S.
Netanyahu ally agrees to delay Israeli judicial overhaul amid mass protests© Provided by The Hill
Israel’s far-right Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir has agreed to delay until May discussions surrounding the judicial reforms, his political party Otzma Yehudit, or Jewish Power, said in a statement, the Times of Israel reported.
The move comes amid pointed warnings from the U.S. to Netanyahu to pursue compromise with opposition lawmakers around the judicial reforms, which critics warn would destroy the bedrock of Israel’s democracy by stripping the independent oversight of the judicial branch.
“We’ve been very clear privately with Israeli leaders, as well as publicly, with our concerns over developments in the last 48 hours,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Monday morning, “and again, strongly urge Israeli leaders to compromise here.”
The judicial reforms, which are said to include allowing the government to overrule Supreme Court decisions and have greater control over appointing judges to the bench, have drawn unprecedented opposition. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis participating in weeks of protests, prompting commitments of refusals among some of Israel’s most elite military units and, on Monday, triggering a general strike among government workers.
President Biden has warned directly to Netanyahu that the judicial reforms risked threatening the “shared values” of the U.S. and Israel relationship and urged the Israeli leader to pursue compromise with the opposition.
“It really does come from a place…of supporting the very idea of checks and balances and the idea of consensus support. That’s where the President’s main concerns come from,” Kirby told reporters.
U.S. lawmakers have also expressed deep concern that the judicial overhaul is a crisis for Israel’s democracy.
Story by Laura Kelly •
A key ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday agreed to delay plans to push through a controversial judicial overhaul that has drawn unprecedented public, government and military opposition and raised alarm from the U.S.
Netanyahu ally agrees to delay Israeli judicial overhaul amid mass protests© Provided by The Hill
Israel’s far-right Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir has agreed to delay until May discussions surrounding the judicial reforms, his political party Otzma Yehudit, or Jewish Power, said in a statement, the Times of Israel reported.
The move comes amid pointed warnings from the U.S. to Netanyahu to pursue compromise with opposition lawmakers around the judicial reforms, which critics warn would destroy the bedrock of Israel’s democracy by stripping the independent oversight of the judicial branch.
“We’ve been very clear privately with Israeli leaders, as well as publicly, with our concerns over developments in the last 48 hours,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Monday morning, “and again, strongly urge Israeli leaders to compromise here.”
The judicial reforms, which are said to include allowing the government to overrule Supreme Court decisions and have greater control over appointing judges to the bench, have drawn unprecedented opposition. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis participating in weeks of protests, prompting commitments of refusals among some of Israel’s most elite military units and, on Monday, triggering a general strike among government workers.
President Biden has warned directly to Netanyahu that the judicial reforms risked threatening the “shared values” of the U.S. and Israel relationship and urged the Israeli leader to pursue compromise with the opposition.
“It really does come from a place…of supporting the very idea of checks and balances and the idea of consensus support. That’s where the President’s main concerns come from,” Kirby told reporters.
U.S. lawmakers have also expressed deep concern that the judicial overhaul is a crisis for Israel’s democracy.
Israel judicial overhaul plans delayed amid huge protests, says Ben Gvir’s Jewish Power party
Story by Amir Tal •
Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial plans to weaken Israel’s judiciary will be put on hold after widespread strikes and protests drove the country to a standstill, the party of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir announced Monday.
The legislation will be paused until the next legislative term, after the Passover recess in April, Gvir’s Jewish Power party said in a statement.
Netanyahu himself has not commented on a delay. A nationwide strike on Monday saw workers in virtually every major sector walk out, and protesters clogged streets and rammed city centers across Israel, demanding an end to the plan.
The original proposals would have amounted to the most sweeping overhaul of the Israeli legal system since the country’s founding. The most significant changes would allow a simple majority in the Knesset to overturn Supreme Court rulings; the Netanyahu government also sought to change the way judges are selected, and remove government ministries’ independent legal advisers, whose opinions are binding.
But months of sustained protests over the plans drew global attention and rocked the country. The political crisis deepened on Sunday when Netanyahu’s office announced the firing of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in a one-line statement, after he became the first member of the cabinet to call for a pause to the controversial plans.
In the hours that followed, Israeli society ground to a halt as anger at the bill mounted. Netanyahu was also condemned by his opponents and a host of former Israeli prime ministers.
“We’ve never been closer to falling apart. Our national security is at risk, our economy is crumbling, our foreign relations are at their lowest point ever, we don’t know what to say to our children about their future in this country. We have been taken hostage by a bunch of extremists with no brakes and no boundaries,” former Prime Minister Yair Lapid said at the Knesset.
As he fought to push ahead with his effort last week, Netanyahu’s government also passed a law making it harder to oust prime ministers that was condemned by critics as a self-preservation tactic.
By a 61-to-47 final vote, the Knesset approved the bill that states that only the prime minister himself or the cabinet, with a two-thirds majority, can declare the leader unfit. The cabinet vote would then need to be ratified by a super majority in the parliament.
Netanyahu, who is the first sitting Israeli prime minister to appear in court as a defendant, is on trial for charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery. He denies any wrongdoing.
For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Story by Amir Tal •
Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial plans to weaken Israel’s judiciary will be put on hold after widespread strikes and protests drove the country to a standstill, the party of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir announced Monday.
Duration 1:00
The legislation will be paused until the next legislative term, after the Passover recess in April, Gvir’s Jewish Power party said in a statement.
Netanyahu himself has not commented on a delay. A nationwide strike on Monday saw workers in virtually every major sector walk out, and protesters clogged streets and rammed city centers across Israel, demanding an end to the plan.
The original proposals would have amounted to the most sweeping overhaul of the Israeli legal system since the country’s founding. The most significant changes would allow a simple majority in the Knesset to overturn Supreme Court rulings; the Netanyahu government also sought to change the way judges are selected, and remove government ministries’ independent legal advisers, whose opinions are binding.
But months of sustained protests over the plans drew global attention and rocked the country. The political crisis deepened on Sunday when Netanyahu’s office announced the firing of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in a one-line statement, after he became the first member of the cabinet to call for a pause to the controversial plans.
In the hours that followed, Israeli society ground to a halt as anger at the bill mounted. Netanyahu was also condemned by his opponents and a host of former Israeli prime ministers.
“We’ve never been closer to falling apart. Our national security is at risk, our economy is crumbling, our foreign relations are at their lowest point ever, we don’t know what to say to our children about their future in this country. We have been taken hostage by a bunch of extremists with no brakes and no boundaries,” former Prime Minister Yair Lapid said at the Knesset.
As he fought to push ahead with his effort last week, Netanyahu’s government also passed a law making it harder to oust prime ministers that was condemned by critics as a self-preservation tactic.
By a 61-to-47 final vote, the Knesset approved the bill that states that only the prime minister himself or the cabinet, with a two-thirds majority, can declare the leader unfit. The cabinet vote would then need to be ratified by a super majority in the parliament.
Netanyahu, who is the first sitting Israeli prime minister to appear in court as a defendant, is on trial for charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery. He denies any wrongdoing.
For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Israeli unions launch strike, upping pressure on Netanyahu
The Canadian Press
Mon, March 27, 2023
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Workers from a range of sectors in Israel launched a nationwide strike on Monday, threatening to paralyze the economy as they joined a surging protest movement against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to overhaul the judiciary.
Departing flights from the country’s main international airport were grounded, large mall chains and universities shut their doors, and Israel's largest trade union group called for its 800,000 members — in health, transit, banking and other fields — to stop work. Local governments were expected to close the preschools they run and cut other services, and the main doctors union announced its members would also walk off the job.
The growing resistance to Netanyahu's plan came hours after tens of thousands of people burst into the streets around the country in a spontaneous show of anger at the prime minister's decision to fire his defense minister after he called for a pause to the overhaul. Chanting “the country is on fire,” they lit bonfires on Tel Aviv's main highway, closing the thoroughfare and many others throughout the country for hours.
Thousands of protesters gathered Monday outside the Knesset, or parliament, to keep up the pressure.
The overhaul — driven by Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, and his allies in Israel's most right-wing government ever — has plunged Israel into one of its worst domestic crises. It has sparked sustained protests that have galvanized nearly all sectors of society, including its military, where reservists have increasingly come out publicly to say they will not serve a country veering toward autocracy.
Israel's Palestinian citizens, however, have largely sat out the protests. Many say Israel’s democracy is tarnished by its military rule over their brethren in the West Bank and the discrimination they themselves face.
The turmoil has magnified longstanding and intractable differences over Israel's character that have riven it since its establishment. The protesters say they are fighting for the very soul of the nation, saying the overhaul will remove Israel’s system of checks and balances and directly challenge its democratic ideals.
The government has labelled them anarchists out to topple a democratically elected leadership and says the plan will restore a balance between the judicial and executive branches and rein in what they see as an interventionist court with liberal sympathies.
At the center of the crisis is Netanyahu himself, Israel's longest serving leader, and questions about the lengths he may be willing to go to maintain his grip on power, even as he battles charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate affairs. He denies wrongdoing.
The firing of his defense minister at a time of heightened security threats in the West Bank and elsewhere, appeared to be a last straw for many, including apparently the Histadrut, the country's largest trade union umbrella group, which had sat out the monthslong protests before the defense minister’s firing.
“Where are we leading our beloved Israel? To the abyss,” Arnon Bar-David, the group's head, said in a rousing speech to applause. “Today we are stopping everyone's descent toward the abyss.”
On Monday, as the embers of the highway bonfires were cleared, Israel's ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, called again for an immediate halt to the overhaul.
“The entire nation is rapt with deep worry. Our security, economy, society — all are under threat,” he said. “Wake up now!”
Opposition leader Yair Lapid said the crisis was driving Israel to the brink.
“We’ve never been closer to falling apart. Our national security is at risk, our economy is crumbling, our foreign relations are at their lowest point ever, we don’t know what to say to our children about their future in this country,” Lapid said. “We have been taken hostage by a bunch of extremists with no brakes and no boundaries.”
It was unclear if the threats posed by the strikes to Israel's economy, which is already on shaky ground, would prompt Netanyahu to halt the overhaul. Israeli media reported that a lawyer representing the prime minister in his corruption trial threatened to quit if the overhaul was not halted.
The developments were being watched in Washington, which is closely allied with Israel yet has been uneasy with Netanyahu and the far-right elements of his government. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said the United States was “deeply concerned" by the developments in Israel, "which further underscore the urgent need for compromise.”
“Democratic values have always been, and must remain, a hallmark of the U.S.-Israel relationship,” Watson said in a statement.
Netanyahu had reportedly spent the night in consultations and was set to speak to the nation, but later delayed his speech. Some members of Netanyahu's Likud party said they would support the prime minister if he did heed calls to halt the overhaul.
The architect of the plan, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, a popular party member, was long a holdout, promising he would resign if the overhaul was suspended. But on Monday, he said he would respect the prime minister's decision should he halt the legislation.
Still, Netanyahu's hard-line allies pressed him to continue on. “We must not halt the reform in the judicial system, and we must not give in to anarchy,” National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said.
Netanyahu’s dismissal of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant appeared to signal that the prime minister and his allies would barrel ahead. Gallant had been the first senior member of the ruling Likud party to speak out against it, saying the deep divisions were threatening to weaken the military.
And Netanyahu’s government forged ahead with a centerpiece of the overhaul — a law that would give the governing coalition the final say over all judicial appointments. A parliamentary committee approved the legislation on Monday for a final vote, which could come this week.
The government also seeks to pass laws that would would grant the Knesset the authority to overturn Supreme Court decisions and limit judicial review of laws.
A separate law that would circumvent a Supreme Court ruling to allow a key coalition ally to serve as minister was delayed following a request from that party's leader.
Netanyahu returned to power late last year after a protracted political crisis that sent Israelis to the polls five times in less than four years. The elections were all a referendum on Netanyahu's fitness to serve while on trial for corruption.
___
Associated Press journalists Laurie Kellman in Tel Aviv and Isaac Scharf in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
Tia Goldenberg, The Associated Press
The Canadian Press
Mon, March 27, 2023
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Workers from a range of sectors in Israel launched a nationwide strike on Monday, threatening to paralyze the economy as they joined a surging protest movement against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to overhaul the judiciary.
Departing flights from the country’s main international airport were grounded, large mall chains and universities shut their doors, and Israel's largest trade union group called for its 800,000 members — in health, transit, banking and other fields — to stop work. Local governments were expected to close the preschools they run and cut other services, and the main doctors union announced its members would also walk off the job.
The growing resistance to Netanyahu's plan came hours after tens of thousands of people burst into the streets around the country in a spontaneous show of anger at the prime minister's decision to fire his defense minister after he called for a pause to the overhaul. Chanting “the country is on fire,” they lit bonfires on Tel Aviv's main highway, closing the thoroughfare and many others throughout the country for hours.
Thousands of protesters gathered Monday outside the Knesset, or parliament, to keep up the pressure.
The overhaul — driven by Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, and his allies in Israel's most right-wing government ever — has plunged Israel into one of its worst domestic crises. It has sparked sustained protests that have galvanized nearly all sectors of society, including its military, where reservists have increasingly come out publicly to say they will not serve a country veering toward autocracy.
Israel's Palestinian citizens, however, have largely sat out the protests. Many say Israel’s democracy is tarnished by its military rule over their brethren in the West Bank and the discrimination they themselves face.
The turmoil has magnified longstanding and intractable differences over Israel's character that have riven it since its establishment. The protesters say they are fighting for the very soul of the nation, saying the overhaul will remove Israel’s system of checks and balances and directly challenge its democratic ideals.
The government has labelled them anarchists out to topple a democratically elected leadership and says the plan will restore a balance between the judicial and executive branches and rein in what they see as an interventionist court with liberal sympathies.
At the center of the crisis is Netanyahu himself, Israel's longest serving leader, and questions about the lengths he may be willing to go to maintain his grip on power, even as he battles charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate affairs. He denies wrongdoing.
The firing of his defense minister at a time of heightened security threats in the West Bank and elsewhere, appeared to be a last straw for many, including apparently the Histadrut, the country's largest trade union umbrella group, which had sat out the monthslong protests before the defense minister’s firing.
“Where are we leading our beloved Israel? To the abyss,” Arnon Bar-David, the group's head, said in a rousing speech to applause. “Today we are stopping everyone's descent toward the abyss.”
On Monday, as the embers of the highway bonfires were cleared, Israel's ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, called again for an immediate halt to the overhaul.
“The entire nation is rapt with deep worry. Our security, economy, society — all are under threat,” he said. “Wake up now!”
Opposition leader Yair Lapid said the crisis was driving Israel to the brink.
“We’ve never been closer to falling apart. Our national security is at risk, our economy is crumbling, our foreign relations are at their lowest point ever, we don’t know what to say to our children about their future in this country,” Lapid said. “We have been taken hostage by a bunch of extremists with no brakes and no boundaries.”
It was unclear if the threats posed by the strikes to Israel's economy, which is already on shaky ground, would prompt Netanyahu to halt the overhaul. Israeli media reported that a lawyer representing the prime minister in his corruption trial threatened to quit if the overhaul was not halted.
The developments were being watched in Washington, which is closely allied with Israel yet has been uneasy with Netanyahu and the far-right elements of his government. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said the United States was “deeply concerned" by the developments in Israel, "which further underscore the urgent need for compromise.”
“Democratic values have always been, and must remain, a hallmark of the U.S.-Israel relationship,” Watson said in a statement.
Netanyahu had reportedly spent the night in consultations and was set to speak to the nation, but later delayed his speech. Some members of Netanyahu's Likud party said they would support the prime minister if he did heed calls to halt the overhaul.
The architect of the plan, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, a popular party member, was long a holdout, promising he would resign if the overhaul was suspended. But on Monday, he said he would respect the prime minister's decision should he halt the legislation.
Still, Netanyahu's hard-line allies pressed him to continue on. “We must not halt the reform in the judicial system, and we must not give in to anarchy,” National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said.
Netanyahu’s dismissal of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant appeared to signal that the prime minister and his allies would barrel ahead. Gallant had been the first senior member of the ruling Likud party to speak out against it, saying the deep divisions were threatening to weaken the military.
And Netanyahu’s government forged ahead with a centerpiece of the overhaul — a law that would give the governing coalition the final say over all judicial appointments. A parliamentary committee approved the legislation on Monday for a final vote, which could come this week.
The government also seeks to pass laws that would would grant the Knesset the authority to overturn Supreme Court decisions and limit judicial review of laws.
A separate law that would circumvent a Supreme Court ruling to allow a key coalition ally to serve as minister was delayed following a request from that party's leader.
Netanyahu returned to power late last year after a protracted political crisis that sent Israelis to the polls five times in less than four years. The elections were all a referendum on Netanyahu's fitness to serve while on trial for corruption.
___
Associated Press journalists Laurie Kellman in Tel Aviv and Isaac Scharf in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
Tia Goldenberg, The Associated Press
AFP
Mon, March 27, 2023
Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday called for an immediate halt to the government's controversial judicial reforms, a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sacked his defence minister for similar demands.
Herzog, who holds a largely ceremonial post, made the call following spontaneous demonstrations in Tel Aviv overnight in response to the minister's dismissal.
"For the sake of the unity of the people of Israel, for the sake of the necessary responsibility, I call on you to halt the legislative process immediately," Herzog said in a statement.
The plan to hand more control to politicians and diminish the role of the Supreme Court has ignited months of protests and been questioned by Israel's top allies including the United States, which expressed concern Sunday.
Netanyahu's hard-right government argues the changes are needed to rebalance powers between lawmakers and the judiciary.
Yoav Galant, the former defence minister and staunch ally of Netanyahu, earlier broke ranks and called for a halt to the reforms -- with lawmakers scheduled to vote this week on a central part of the proposals, which would change the way judges are appointed.
"The growing social rift has made its way into the (army) and security agencies," said Galant, a member of Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party. "It is a clear, immediate and tangible threat to Israel's security.
"I am committed to Likud values... and placing the State of Israel above all... but major changes on the national level must be made through deliberations and dialogue," he added, calling for a halt to the protests.
- 'Deep worry' -
On Sunday, moments after Netanyahu sacked Galant, demonstrators seized a central highway cutting through the coastal city of Tel Aviv, blocking traffic and burning tyres.
Some threw metal barricades at mounted offices while police deployed water cannon.
The large crowd waved national flags, blew airhorns and chanted in Hebrew: "Israel is not a dictatorship" and "No to a fascist government!"
"Last night we witnessed very difficult scenes," Herzog said.
"The entire nation is rapt with deep worry," he added, in an appeal to the government. "Our security, economy, society — all are under threat."
After months of rallies against the reform, including a weekend demonstration that brought out an estimated 200,000 people in Tel Aviv, protesters in the city said it felt like "a sort of climax".
In Jerusalem, demonstrators gathered Sunday outside the prime minister's residence, while other rallies took place in the northern city of Haifa and Beer Sheva in the south.
Protesters have announced a "national paralysis week", including protests outside ministers' homes and parliament.
The United States said it was "deeply concerned" and called on Israeli leaders to reach a compromise.
The White House noted that President Joe Biden recently told Netanyahu that "democratic values have always been, and must remain, a hallmark of the US-Israel relationship".
Galant, a former general, was named to his post in December as part of Netanyahu's coalition with extreme-right and ultra-Orthodox allies.
Two other Likud lawmakers have voiced support for Galant, raising questions over whether the government could count on a majority if it pushes ahead with a vote.
Adding to the political uncertainty, Israel's consul general in New York, Asaf Zamir, tendered his resignation Sunday over Netanyahu's "dangerous decision".
Opposition leader Yair Lapid said that while the prime minister had sacked Galant, "he cannot fire reality and cannot fire the people of Israel who are standing up to the insanity of the coalition".
"The Prime Minister of Israel is a danger to the security of the State of Israel," Lapid added.
- 'Illegal' intervention -
A parliamentary committee has amended the draft law to make it more acceptable to opponents, but the opposition has ruled out backing any part of the reform package until all legislative steps are halted.
Netanyahu, in a televised address last week, vowed to "responsibly advance" the reforms and "end the rift" they have caused.
In response, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara on Friday accused Netanyahu of "illegal" public intervention on the process of adopting the judicial reforms.
Netanyahu is on trial over charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, which he denies.
His broadcast gave rise to contempt of court accusations filed with the Supreme Court by the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, an anti-corruption campaign group.
The group's complaint alleges Netanyahu violated a court ruling that an accused prime minister does not have the right to act in a matter that could constitute a conflict of interest.
Israel Democracy Institute holds emergency conference in light of judicial reforms
Story by By JERUSALEM POST STAFF • 7h ago
An international emergency conference was held on Sunday morning at the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) in Jerusalem and saw attendances and testimonies from officials, jurists and legal experts worldwide regarding the judicial reform.
Thousands march in protest of the judicial reform in Tel Aviv, March 23, 2023
An international emergency conference was held on Sunday morning at the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) in Jerusalem and saw attendances and testimonies from officials, jurists and legal experts worldwide regarding the judicial reform.
Thousands march in protest of the judicial reform in Tel Aviv, March 23, 2023
© (photo credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/MAARIV)
Participants came from Hungary, Poland, India, Ireland, Canada and France, during which they discussed the future of Israel. Jurists at the conference warned that Israel can expect violations of human rights, a collapse of the economy and a silenced media should the judicial reforms continue.
Research showed that an automatic majority to the current coalition to select justices is nearly nonexistent in other democracies, while judicial reform advocates claim that the overhaul will bring the judicial selection process closer to that of other parliamentary systems.
Statements by the president of the Israel Democracy Institute
"It is important to emphasize that Israel is not unusual in the way judges are chosen as is customary today," said IDI president Yohanan Plesner. "We hear from the supporters of the 'reform' that they are only implementing a process for selecting judges that exist in other liberal democracies, but most of the references to methods in other countries, such as those made by the prime minister on Thursday when he mentioned Canada and the United States, are very misleading or completely wrong."
"We hear from the supporters of the 'reform' that they are only implementing a process for selecting judges that exist in other liberal democracies."Yohanan Plesner
"Recently, we find the need to remind Israelis how vulnerable our democracy is compared to any other democracy in the world. Israel actually has no checks and balances. We have no constitution, no bill of rights, no federal distribution of power and no presidential veto.
Judicial reform protestors block the road at HaKfar HaYarok youth village in Ramat Hasharon on March 9, 2023. (credit: Shai Koriansky)© Provided by The Jerusalem PostJudicial reform protestors block the road at HaKfar HaYarok youth village in Ramat Hasharon on March 9, 2023. (credit: Shai Koriansky)
"The only brake on the power of a political majority is the Supreme Court. Therefore, damage to the independence of the court, small or large, has a significant and unique effect on the democratic balance in Israel," he continued.
Statements by former justice ministers from abroad
"I am amazed by the incompetence and the bizarre move," said former Irish Justice Minister Alan Shatter. "I understand the politics behind it, but I don't understand how intelligent people can deal with such an important issue in such a quick way and in such a short time.
Former Canadian Justice Minister and Attorney-General Irwin Kolter said: “There is absolutely no comparison to be made between the proposals being made in Israel and the system in Canada, any comparison is misleading - we do have a superseding clause, but it comes within the Canadian Bill of Rights, as part of the federal system, and Democratic rights. It is not the same as what is happening in Israel."
Participants came from Hungary, Poland, India, Ireland, Canada and France, during which they discussed the future of Israel. Jurists at the conference warned that Israel can expect violations of human rights, a collapse of the economy and a silenced media should the judicial reforms continue.
Research showed that an automatic majority to the current coalition to select justices is nearly nonexistent in other democracies, while judicial reform advocates claim that the overhaul will bring the judicial selection process closer to that of other parliamentary systems.
Statements by the president of the Israel Democracy Institute
"It is important to emphasize that Israel is not unusual in the way judges are chosen as is customary today," said IDI president Yohanan Plesner. "We hear from the supporters of the 'reform' that they are only implementing a process for selecting judges that exist in other liberal democracies, but most of the references to methods in other countries, such as those made by the prime minister on Thursday when he mentioned Canada and the United States, are very misleading or completely wrong."
"We hear from the supporters of the 'reform' that they are only implementing a process for selecting judges that exist in other liberal democracies."Yohanan Plesner
"Recently, we find the need to remind Israelis how vulnerable our democracy is compared to any other democracy in the world. Israel actually has no checks and balances. We have no constitution, no bill of rights, no federal distribution of power and no presidential veto.
Judicial reform protestors block the road at HaKfar HaYarok youth village in Ramat Hasharon on March 9, 2023. (credit: Shai Koriansky)© Provided by The Jerusalem PostJudicial reform protestors block the road at HaKfar HaYarok youth village in Ramat Hasharon on March 9, 2023. (credit: Shai Koriansky)
"The only brake on the power of a political majority is the Supreme Court. Therefore, damage to the independence of the court, small or large, has a significant and unique effect on the democratic balance in Israel," he continued.
Statements by former justice ministers from abroad
"I am amazed by the incompetence and the bizarre move," said former Irish Justice Minister Alan Shatter. "I understand the politics behind it, but I don't understand how intelligent people can deal with such an important issue in such a quick way and in such a short time.
Former Canadian Justice Minister and Attorney-General Irwin Kolter said: “There is absolutely no comparison to be made between the proposals being made in Israel and the system in Canada, any comparison is misleading - we do have a superseding clause, but it comes within the Canadian Bill of Rights, as part of the federal system, and Democratic rights. It is not the same as what is happening in Israel."
Mass protests erupt in Israel after Netanyahu fires minister who opposed judicial overhaul
Story by Hadas Gold • CNN
Waving Israeli flags and chanting “democratia,” protestors could be seen blocking streets and bridges, including the Ayalon Highway.
Protesters lit several fires on the main highway in Tel Aviv, their acrid, black smoke billowing into the sky, partly obscuring some of the city’s iconic skyscrapers. By around 2 a.m. local time in Tel Aviv, protests had thinned out but live pictures from the scene showed security forces firing water cannons on those still gathered.
Israel’s political crisis deepened on Sunday when Netanyahu’s office announced the removal of Yoav Gallant in a one-line statement, after he became the first member of the cabinet to call for a pause to controversial plans to overhaul the country’s court system.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to remove Defense Minister Yoav Gallant from his post,” the statement read.
Protesters clash with the police during a rally against the Israeli government's judicial reform in Tel Aviv, Israel on March 27. - Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images
Gallant argued for a halt to the judicial reforms in a speech Saturday night, when Netanyahu was out of the country on an official visit to the United Kingdom. Some military reservists have pledged to pull out of their service in opposition to the plans, which critics say would undermine the independence of the judiciary. Gallant said pressing ahead with the proposals could threaten Israel’s security.
His ouster and the mass protests that followed prompted a string of prominent officials to call for a halt to the judicial reform process.
In a Facebook post on Monday, Israel’s President Isaac Herzog called on Netanyahu and his government to immediately pause the plans, saying “the eyes of the whole world are on you.”
“Deep concern hovers over the entire nation. Security, economy, society – everyone is threatened,” Herzog said in the statement.
“The eyes of all the people of Israel are on you. The eyes of all the Jewish people are on you. The eyes of the whole world are on you. For the sake of the unity of Israelis, for the sake of committed responsibility I call on you to halt the legislative procedure immediately.”
As protesters gathered into the early hours of Monday, Economy Minister Nir Barkat, Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar and Diaspora Affairs and Social Equality Minister Amichai Chikli – all members of Netanyahu’s Likud party – also suggested that Netanyahu should stop the legislation.
Barkat, a former mayor of Jerusalem, suggested Netanyahu should “stop and recalculate” his overhaul plan, warning it has brought the country to the brink of civil war.
“The reform is necessary and we will do it – but not at the cost of a civil war,” he said.
Former Israelie defense minsiter Yoav Gallant. - Amir Cohen/Reuters
In his speech on Saturday, Gallant said the pause was needed “for the security of Israel,” citing the refusal of some Israel Defense Forces reservists to train in protest at the government plans.
Gallant reiterated that sentiment in a tweet on Sunday after his dismissal: “The security of the State of Israel has always been and will always remain the mission of my life.”
Israel’s former Prime Minister Yair Lapid called Gallant’s dismissal a “new low.” He wrote on Twitter that Netanyahu might be able to fire the minister but “cannot fire the people of Israel who are standing up to the insanity of the coalition.”
Thousands streamed into central Tel Aviv on Sunday night in
Story by Hadas Gold • CNN
Massive crowds filled the streets of the Israeli city of Tel Aviv late Sunday night after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired his defense minister over his opposition to a planned judicial overhaul.
Watch protesters flood Tel Aviv highway to protest NetanyahuView on Watch Duration 1:00
Waving Israeli flags and chanting “democratia,” protestors could be seen blocking streets and bridges, including the Ayalon Highway.
Protesters lit several fires on the main highway in Tel Aviv, their acrid, black smoke billowing into the sky, partly obscuring some of the city’s iconic skyscrapers. By around 2 a.m. local time in Tel Aviv, protests had thinned out but live pictures from the scene showed security forces firing water cannons on those still gathered.
Israel’s political crisis deepened on Sunday when Netanyahu’s office announced the removal of Yoav Gallant in a one-line statement, after he became the first member of the cabinet to call for a pause to controversial plans to overhaul the country’s court system.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to remove Defense Minister Yoav Gallant from his post,” the statement read.
Protesters clash with the police during a rally against the Israeli government's judicial reform in Tel Aviv, Israel on March 27. - Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images
Gallant argued for a halt to the judicial reforms in a speech Saturday night, when Netanyahu was out of the country on an official visit to the United Kingdom. Some military reservists have pledged to pull out of their service in opposition to the plans, which critics say would undermine the independence of the judiciary. Gallant said pressing ahead with the proposals could threaten Israel’s security.
His ouster and the mass protests that followed prompted a string of prominent officials to call for a halt to the judicial reform process.
In a Facebook post on Monday, Israel’s President Isaac Herzog called on Netanyahu and his government to immediately pause the plans, saying “the eyes of the whole world are on you.”
“Deep concern hovers over the entire nation. Security, economy, society – everyone is threatened,” Herzog said in the statement.
“The eyes of all the people of Israel are on you. The eyes of all the Jewish people are on you. The eyes of the whole world are on you. For the sake of the unity of Israelis, for the sake of committed responsibility I call on you to halt the legislative procedure immediately.”
As protesters gathered into the early hours of Monday, Economy Minister Nir Barkat, Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar and Diaspora Affairs and Social Equality Minister Amichai Chikli – all members of Netanyahu’s Likud party – also suggested that Netanyahu should stop the legislation.
Barkat, a former mayor of Jerusalem, suggested Netanyahu should “stop and recalculate” his overhaul plan, warning it has brought the country to the brink of civil war.
“The reform is necessary and we will do it – but not at the cost of a civil war,” he said.
Former Israelie defense minsiter Yoav Gallant. - Amir Cohen/Reuters
In his speech on Saturday, Gallant said the pause was needed “for the security of Israel,” citing the refusal of some Israel Defense Forces reservists to train in protest at the government plans.
Gallant reiterated that sentiment in a tweet on Sunday after his dismissal: “The security of the State of Israel has always been and will always remain the mission of my life.”
Israel’s former Prime Minister Yair Lapid called Gallant’s dismissal a “new low.” He wrote on Twitter that Netanyahu might be able to fire the minister but “cannot fire the people of Israel who are standing up to the insanity of the coalition.”
Thousands streamed into central Tel Aviv on Sunday night in
support of the fired defense minister - Ohad Zwigenberg/AP
He added: “The Prime Minister of Israel is a danger to the security of the State of Israel.”
Israel’s Consul General in New York, Asaf Zamir, resigned in response to Netanyahu’s decision to fire Gallant. In his resignation letter, which he posted on Twitter, Zamir called Netanyahu’s move a “dangerous decision” and added that that he had “become increasingly concerned with the policies of the new government, and in particular, the judicial reform it is leading.”
“I believe that this reform undermines the very foundation of our democratic system and threatens the rule of law in our country,” he wrote.
Universities in Israel will go on strike starting Monday, they announced, and the country’s largest labor union and business leaders said they would hold a press conference on Monday morning. The labor union, Histadrut, said its press conference with business leaders scheduled for 11 a.m. (4 a.m. ET) would be dramatic.
A contentious judicial overhaul
Under the proposals, the government would have control over the appointment of judges, and parliament would gain the power to override Supreme Court decisions.
The government argues the changes are essential to rein in the Supreme Court, which they see as insular, elitist, and no longer representative of the Israeli people. Opponents say the plans threaten the foundations of Israeli democracy.
The military reservists’ protest is seen as a particular worry for Israel’s government, as they are regularly called up to train and serve, even in peacetime.
Protesters lit fires on a Tel Aviv highway Sunday - Nir Elias/Reuters
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir had called on Netanyahu to fire Gallant after his speech on Saturday. “Gallant gave in tonight to blackmail and threats from all those anarchists who call for resistance and use the [Israel Defense Forces] as a bargaining tool,” Gvir tweeted.
“Gallant was elected by the votes of right-wing voters and in practice promotes a left-wing agenda. At the moment of truth he collapsed under the pressure of the media and the protesters. I call on the Prime Minister to fire him immediately.”
Piling further pressure on Netanyahu, Israel’s High Court on Sunday gave him a week to a respond to a petition calling for him to be held in contempt of court.
The legal move by the Movement for Quality Government in Israel comes after the attorney general told Netanyahu he acted illegally and violated a court-imposed conflict of interest order by saying he would personally involve himself in the judicial overhaul.
Part of the bill – which effectively strips the courts of the power to declare a prime minister unfit for office – has already been pushed through.
Critics say Netanyahu is pushing through the changes because of his own ongoing corruption trial; Netanyahu denies this.
Netanyahu himself has given no indication he will back down. In a speech on Thursday he said he would address the concerns of “both sides,” but pledged to continue with the reform plans.
Likud lawmaker Danny Danon said it was too soon to know if there were enough rebels in the party to stop the legislation, telling CNN, “We will only know Monday,” when members of the party meet in the Knesset, or parliament.
Netanyahu and his allies control 64 seats in the 120-seat legislature, so in theory five Likud rebels could deprive the coalition of an absolute majority. But lawmakers can abstain or be absent, bringing down the number of votes a law needs in order to pass.
CNN’s Richard Allen Greene contributed to this story from Jerusalem, Irene Nasser reported from Hong Kong and Lauren Said-Moorhouse wrote from London.
For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
He added: “The Prime Minister of Israel is a danger to the security of the State of Israel.”
Israel’s Consul General in New York, Asaf Zamir, resigned in response to Netanyahu’s decision to fire Gallant. In his resignation letter, which he posted on Twitter, Zamir called Netanyahu’s move a “dangerous decision” and added that that he had “become increasingly concerned with the policies of the new government, and in particular, the judicial reform it is leading.”
“I believe that this reform undermines the very foundation of our democratic system and threatens the rule of law in our country,” he wrote.
Universities in Israel will go on strike starting Monday, they announced, and the country’s largest labor union and business leaders said they would hold a press conference on Monday morning. The labor union, Histadrut, said its press conference with business leaders scheduled for 11 a.m. (4 a.m. ET) would be dramatic.
A contentious judicial overhaul
Under the proposals, the government would have control over the appointment of judges, and parliament would gain the power to override Supreme Court decisions.
The government argues the changes are essential to rein in the Supreme Court, which they see as insular, elitist, and no longer representative of the Israeli people. Opponents say the plans threaten the foundations of Israeli democracy.
The military reservists’ protest is seen as a particular worry for Israel’s government, as they are regularly called up to train and serve, even in peacetime.
Protesters lit fires on a Tel Aviv highway Sunday - Nir Elias/Reuters
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir had called on Netanyahu to fire Gallant after his speech on Saturday. “Gallant gave in tonight to blackmail and threats from all those anarchists who call for resistance and use the [Israel Defense Forces] as a bargaining tool,” Gvir tweeted.
“Gallant was elected by the votes of right-wing voters and in practice promotes a left-wing agenda. At the moment of truth he collapsed under the pressure of the media and the protesters. I call on the Prime Minister to fire him immediately.”
Piling further pressure on Netanyahu, Israel’s High Court on Sunday gave him a week to a respond to a petition calling for him to be held in contempt of court.
The legal move by the Movement for Quality Government in Israel comes after the attorney general told Netanyahu he acted illegally and violated a court-imposed conflict of interest order by saying he would personally involve himself in the judicial overhaul.
Part of the bill – which effectively strips the courts of the power to declare a prime minister unfit for office – has already been pushed through.
Critics say Netanyahu is pushing through the changes because of his own ongoing corruption trial; Netanyahu denies this.
Netanyahu himself has given no indication he will back down. In a speech on Thursday he said he would address the concerns of “both sides,” but pledged to continue with the reform plans.
Likud lawmaker Danny Danon said it was too soon to know if there were enough rebels in the party to stop the legislation, telling CNN, “We will only know Monday,” when members of the party meet in the Knesset, or parliament.
Netanyahu and his allies control 64 seats in the 120-seat legislature, so in theory five Likud rebels could deprive the coalition of an absolute majority. But lawmakers can abstain or be absent, bringing down the number of votes a law needs in order to pass.
CNN’s Richard Allen Greene contributed to this story from Jerusalem, Irene Nasser reported from Hong Kong and Lauren Said-Moorhouse wrote from London.
For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Netanyahu sacks defence minister, sparking mass protests
By Ari Rabinovitch
JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday sacked Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, triggering mass protests, a day after Gallant broke ranks with the government and urged a halt to a highly contested plan to overhaul the judicial system.
As news of the dismissal spread, tens of thousands of protesters, many waving blue and white Israeli flags, took to the streets late at night across the country. Crowds gathered outside Netanyahu's home in Jerusalem, at one point breaching a security cordon.
Protest against Israel's judicial overhaul and dismissing of the defense minister, in Jerusalem© Thomson Reuters
Some three months since taking office, Netanyahu's nationalist-religious coalition has been plunged into crisis over the bitter divisions exposed by its flagship judicial overhaul plans.
"State security cannot be a card in the political game. Netanyahu crossed a red line tonight," opposition leaders Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz said in a joint statement.
They called on members of Netanyahu's Likud party not to have a hand in "the crushing of national security."
In announcing Gallant's dismissal, Netanyahu's office did not name a replacement nor give any other details. "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided this evening to dismiss Defence Minister Yoav Gallant," it said.
Shortly afterward, Gallant, 64, wrote on Twitter: "The state of Israel’s security has always been and will always be my life's mission."
Protests against Israel's judicial overhaul and dismissing the defense minister, in Tel Aviv© Thomson Reuters
POLICE USE WATER CANNONS
Netanyahu made the decision to sack Gallant after the former navy admiral warned on Saturday that the overhaul plans risked "a clear, immediate and tangible threat to the security of the state" and called for them to be halted.
"At this time, for the sake of our country, I am willing to take any risk and pay any price," Gallant said in his televised address.
Netanyahu acted in response on Sunday night as he was poised to ratify a central part of the overhaul package, a bill that would tighten political control over judicial appointments, handing the executive wider freedom to name judges to the Supreme Court.
Earlier this month, President Isaac Herzog, the head of state who is supposed to remain above politics, warned that the country faced "disaster" unless a broader consensus could be reached on how to overhaul the judiciary.
But Netanyahu, on trial on corruption charges that he denies, has vowed to continue with a project he says is needed to rein in activist judges and restore the proper balance between an elected government and the judiciary.
As protesters poured into the streets, police used water cannons to push them back from Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem, while in Tel Aviv, where hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets since the beginning of the year, protesters lighted a large bonfire on a main highway.
It was not immediately clear whether the protests would impact the government's tactics. At least three Likud ministers said publicly that it was time to reevaluate their strategy and they would support halting the legislation if Netanyahu decided to do so. The head of the parliamentary committee deciding on the legislation said discussions would continue on Monday.
Protests against Israel's judicial overhaul and dismissing the defense minister, in Tel Aviv© Thomson Reuters
The crisis came as Israel's security establishment has been bracing for potential violence in the coming weeks as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan overlaps with the Jewish Passover and the Christian Easter celebration.
Over the past year, Israeli forces have been conducting nearly daily raids in the occupied West Bank, killing more than 250 Palestinian fighters and civilians, while more than 40 Israelis and foreigners have been killed by Palestinian attackers.
Protests against Israel's judicial overhaul and dismissing the defense minister, in Tel Aviv© Thomson Reuters
DIPLOMAT RESIGNS
Gallant on Saturday became the most senior member of Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party to say he would not support the judicial overhaul, saying protests that have included growing numbers of military reservists were also affecting regular forces and undermining national security.
Protests against Israel's judicial overhaul and dismissing the defense minister, in Tel Aviv© Thomson Reuters
In recent weeks senior Finance Ministry officials have warned of an economic backlash and business leaders have sounded the alarm for their companies' future.
Protest against Israel's judicial overhaul and dismissing of the defense minister, in Jerusalem© Thomson Reuters
Adding to the pressure, the head of the Histadrut labour federation, the umbrella organisation for hundreds of thousands of public sector workers, said he was "astonished" by Gallant's removal and promised a "dramatic" announcement on Monday.
Israel's consul-general in New York said he was resigning over the dismissal. Israel's research universities announced they would stop holding classes due to the legislative push, calling for its immediate freeze.
Some of Netanyahu's hard-right coalition partners had called for Gallant to be sacked, but a number of other Likud lawmakers have backed his call for a halt to the reforms.
The turmoil comes at a key moment in the passage of the legislation with a bill giving the executive more control over the appointment of judges expected to be brought for ratification this week in the Knesset, where Netanyahu and his allies control 64 out of 120 seats.
But how - or even whether - that as yet-unscheduled vote will proceed has been thrown into question by the wave of protest sparked by Gallant's removal and the deepening splits within the coalition.
(Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch, Ronen Zvulun and Dan Williams in Jerusalem, Rami Amichay in Tel Aviv; Writing by James Mackenzie, Editing by Andrew Heavens and Cynthia Osterman)
Tens of thousands of Israelis protest judicial overhaul
Duration 1:11
View on Watch
Protest against Israel's judicial overhaul and dismissing of the defense minister, in Jerusalem
By Ari Rabinovitch
JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday sacked Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, triggering mass protests, a day after Gallant broke ranks with the government and urged a halt to a highly contested plan to overhaul the judicial system.
As news of the dismissal spread, tens of thousands of protesters, many waving blue and white Israeli flags, took to the streets late at night across the country. Crowds gathered outside Netanyahu's home in Jerusalem, at one point breaching a security cordon.
Protest against Israel's judicial overhaul and dismissing of the defense minister, in Jerusalem© Thomson Reuters
Some three months since taking office, Netanyahu's nationalist-religious coalition has been plunged into crisis over the bitter divisions exposed by its flagship judicial overhaul plans.
"State security cannot be a card in the political game. Netanyahu crossed a red line tonight," opposition leaders Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz said in a joint statement.
They called on members of Netanyahu's Likud party not to have a hand in "the crushing of national security."
In announcing Gallant's dismissal, Netanyahu's office did not name a replacement nor give any other details. "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided this evening to dismiss Defence Minister Yoav Gallant," it said.
Shortly afterward, Gallant, 64, wrote on Twitter: "The state of Israel’s security has always been and will always be my life's mission."
Protests against Israel's judicial overhaul and dismissing the defense minister, in Tel Aviv© Thomson Reuters
POLICE USE WATER CANNONS
Netanyahu made the decision to sack Gallant after the former navy admiral warned on Saturday that the overhaul plans risked "a clear, immediate and tangible threat to the security of the state" and called for them to be halted.
"At this time, for the sake of our country, I am willing to take any risk and pay any price," Gallant said in his televised address.
Netanyahu acted in response on Sunday night as he was poised to ratify a central part of the overhaul package, a bill that would tighten political control over judicial appointments, handing the executive wider freedom to name judges to the Supreme Court.
Earlier this month, President Isaac Herzog, the head of state who is supposed to remain above politics, warned that the country faced "disaster" unless a broader consensus could be reached on how to overhaul the judiciary.
But Netanyahu, on trial on corruption charges that he denies, has vowed to continue with a project he says is needed to rein in activist judges and restore the proper balance between an elected government and the judiciary.
As protesters poured into the streets, police used water cannons to push them back from Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem, while in Tel Aviv, where hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets since the beginning of the year, protesters lighted a large bonfire on a main highway.
It was not immediately clear whether the protests would impact the government's tactics. At least three Likud ministers said publicly that it was time to reevaluate their strategy and they would support halting the legislation if Netanyahu decided to do so. The head of the parliamentary committee deciding on the legislation said discussions would continue on Monday.
Protests against Israel's judicial overhaul and dismissing the defense minister, in Tel Aviv© Thomson Reuters
The crisis came as Israel's security establishment has been bracing for potential violence in the coming weeks as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan overlaps with the Jewish Passover and the Christian Easter celebration.
Over the past year, Israeli forces have been conducting nearly daily raids in the occupied West Bank, killing more than 250 Palestinian fighters and civilians, while more than 40 Israelis and foreigners have been killed by Palestinian attackers.
Protests against Israel's judicial overhaul and dismissing the defense minister, in Tel Aviv© Thomson Reuters
DIPLOMAT RESIGNS
Gallant on Saturday became the most senior member of Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party to say he would not support the judicial overhaul, saying protests that have included growing numbers of military reservists were also affecting regular forces and undermining national security.
Protests against Israel's judicial overhaul and dismissing the defense minister, in Tel Aviv© Thomson Reuters
In recent weeks senior Finance Ministry officials have warned of an economic backlash and business leaders have sounded the alarm for their companies' future.
Protest against Israel's judicial overhaul and dismissing of the defense minister, in Jerusalem© Thomson Reuters
Adding to the pressure, the head of the Histadrut labour federation, the umbrella organisation for hundreds of thousands of public sector workers, said he was "astonished" by Gallant's removal and promised a "dramatic" announcement on Monday.
Israel's consul-general in New York said he was resigning over the dismissal. Israel's research universities announced they would stop holding classes due to the legislative push, calling for its immediate freeze.
Some of Netanyahu's hard-right coalition partners had called for Gallant to be sacked, but a number of other Likud lawmakers have backed his call for a halt to the reforms.
The turmoil comes at a key moment in the passage of the legislation with a bill giving the executive more control over the appointment of judges expected to be brought for ratification this week in the Knesset, where Netanyahu and his allies control 64 out of 120 seats.
But how - or even whether - that as yet-unscheduled vote will proceed has been thrown into question by the wave of protest sparked by Gallant's removal and the deepening splits within the coalition.
(Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch, Ronen Zvulun and Dan Williams in Jerusalem, Rami Amichay in Tel Aviv; Writing by James Mackenzie, Editing by Andrew Heavens and Cynthia Osterman)
Tens of thousands of Israelis protest judicial overhaul
Duration 1:11
View on Watch
Protest against Israel's judicial overhaul and dismissing of the defense minister, in Jerusalem
Netanyahu’s retreat will be like Napoleon’s from Russia
Story by By AMOTZ ASA-EL • Friday
Retreat stinks. Looking ahead, the retreater sees his destination melt like ice in the sun; looking back, the road that seemed so short when it led to the battlefield now seems to him as long as a continent; looking sideways, he imagines snipers, land mines and disease; and looking inwards, he sniffs disloyalty, despair and defeat.
PEOPLE HOLD Israeli flags next to a banner of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a demonstration in Tel Aviv last week against the judicial overhaul.
It took no Sherlock Holmes to detect the deceit. Even one justice’s appointment by the ruling coalition is one too many, let alone the appointment of the court’s president. The whole idea is to prevent such political tinkering, as our system lacks the constitution and bicameral legislature that form other democracies’ checks and balances.
Evidently, the man behind this mock retreat still thinks the people are the same idiots he habitually fooled over the years with ease and impunity and can thus be fooled again. That is why the stubbornness and lying with which he and his operation responded to the protest movement are still intact.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich thus repeated on Tuesday the lie that under the current system, “the judges appoint each other.” As explained here previously, the Judges Selection Committee includes three judges, four politicians and two lawyers, meaning the judges are a minority, and that’s beside the fact that a Supreme Court justice’s appointment requires the approval of seven of the committee’s nine members.
“I expect the Chief of General Staff and the heads of the security forces to fight firmly the [service] refusal [of reservist fighter pilots].”Benjamin Netanyahu
The same spirit of deceit inspired Netanyahu’s televised demand on Sunday, before the cabinet’s weekly meeting: “I expect the Chief of General Staff and the heads of the security forces to fight firmly the [service] refusal [of reservist fighter pilots].” Netanyahu thus conveniently ignored the fact that these pilots are volunteers who give the Air Force one day of their working week, year after year. Instead, just like he and his felonious police minister dare call the protesters “anarchists,” Netanyahu now made it sound as if the reservist pilots are enlisted servicemen evading service.
And so, while ignoring the pilots’ grievance – namely, his threat to Israeli democracy – Netanyahu made it seem as if the problem the airmen pose is not political but disciplinary, and thus not his business but IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi’s. Talk about shifting blame.
Well, despite the judicial revolutionaries’ continued lying and hoodwinking, this week’s events mean that Netanyahu now understands what he has uncorked and is desperately seeking a way to undo what he has done. Yes, he thought he could return the genie to the bottle by faking a retreat, but what he has just begun is a real retreat, an inglorious retreat from a Napoleonic misadventure’s inevitable collapse.
Netanyahu miscalculated Middle Israel's patriotism and sense of abuse
ALL INGLORIOUS retreats begin with miscalculation. Napoleon miscalculated the Russian winter, Nasser miscalculated Israel’s resolve to survive, and Argentina’s generalissimos miscalculated Britain’s will to fight. Netanyahu miscalculated Middle Israel’s patriotism, bellicosity and sense of abuse.
As this column warned him a month before the judiciary revolution’s announcement (“The Middle Israeli revolt,” December 9, 2022), Netanyahu emerged from his electoral victory intoxicated, convinced he and his allies’ abuse of Middle Israel can be redoubled at no cost, not realizing they are provoking its revolt. Now, faced with multitudes flooding the streets; staring at the blue-and-white forestations that the flags they carry form; and hearing the rebukes of entrepreneurs, economists, industrialists, rabbis, literati, former heads of the Mossad, Shin Bet, Rafael, the Atomic Energy Committee and a battery of retired generals including ten air-force commanders, from Amikam Norkin, 56, to Dan Tolkowsky, 102, Bibi knows that the revolt is here.
And as happened in other inglorious retreats, the failing offensive’s ranks are beginning to fray. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant threatens to resign; Economy Minister Nir Barkat vows to obey the court should it override the reform; and Likud MKs Eli Dallal and David Bitan call to halt the legislation and replace the judicial revolution’s unilateralism with dialogue.
Evidently, when Netanyahu besmirches patriotic pilots who risk their lives behind enemy lines while he is literally and visibly flanked by ultra-Orthodox ministers who did not serve in the army one hour, such Likudniks understand that they have been hijacked, that their leader has lost his cool, judgment and way, and that he and they now face only one choice: retreat.
www.MiddleIsrael.net
The writer, a Hartman Institute fellow, is the author of the bestselling Mitzad Ha’ivelet Ha’yehudi (The Jewish March of Folly, Yediot Sefarim, 2019), a revisionist history of the Jewish people’s political leadership.
Story by By AMOTZ ASA-EL • Friday
Retreat stinks. Looking ahead, the retreater sees his destination melt like ice in the sun; looking back, the road that seemed so short when it led to the battlefield now seems to him as long as a continent; looking sideways, he imagines snipers, land mines and disease; and looking inwards, he sniffs disloyalty, despair and defeat.
PEOPLE HOLD Israeli flags next to a banner of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a demonstration in Tel Aviv last week against the judicial overhaul.
© (photo credit: RONEN ZVULUN/REUTERS)
This is not to say that all retreats end badly. The British retreat from Dunkirk was a success, having retrieved a large corpus from a war zone with minimum casualties, and thus salvaged much of the army that would later move to the offensive and win.
Such was also George Washington’s retreat from Long Island through Brooklyn and New Jersey to Pennsylvania, a maneuver which surprised the British invaders, and in due course enabled the Continental Army to turn the war’s tide.
The common denominator among such retreats is that their commanders did not start the wars they won. Someone else waged war, and retreat was merely the defender’s response before counterattacking, the way Russian General Mikhail Kutuzov did in the face of Napoleon’s assault.
Such are the glorious retreats of the defenders. The attackers’ retreats, by contrast, are inglorious, as they underscore machismo’s debacle, fantasy’s futility, and the frivolity of the choice to go to war. That is what happened, for instance, with Napoleon’s retreat from Russia in 1812, with Nasser’s retreat from Sinai in 1967, and with the Argentine junta’s retreat from the Falkland Islands in 1982.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seen gesturing at the Knesset, on July 26, 2021.
This is not to say that all retreats end badly. The British retreat from Dunkirk was a success, having retrieved a large corpus from a war zone with minimum casualties, and thus salvaged much of the army that would later move to the offensive and win.
Such was also George Washington’s retreat from Long Island through Brooklyn and New Jersey to Pennsylvania, a maneuver which surprised the British invaders, and in due course enabled the Continental Army to turn the war’s tide.
The common denominator among such retreats is that their commanders did not start the wars they won. Someone else waged war, and retreat was merely the defender’s response before counterattacking, the way Russian General Mikhail Kutuzov did in the face of Napoleon’s assault.
Such are the glorious retreats of the defenders. The attackers’ retreats, by contrast, are inglorious, as they underscore machismo’s debacle, fantasy’s futility, and the frivolity of the choice to go to war. That is what happened, for instance, with Napoleon’s retreat from Russia in 1812, with Nasser’s retreat from Sinai in 1967, and with the Argentine junta’s retreat from the Falkland Islands in 1982.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seen gesturing at the Knesset, on July 26, 2021.
(credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Now, what those fiascoes constituted militarily awaits Benjamin Netanyahu politically as his retreat from the biggest political mistake of his career begins to unfold.
Netanyahu's retreat begins
YES, THE coalition’s decision on Monday to temporarily shrink the judicial overhaul was a political nonstarter and a publicity ploy.
The decision, to make do for now with the government’s appointment of two Supreme Court justices and delay the rest of the legislative package for later, created none of the impression its authors hoped to create – namely, that they are retreating.
Now, what those fiascoes constituted militarily awaits Benjamin Netanyahu politically as his retreat from the biggest political mistake of his career begins to unfold.
Netanyahu's retreat begins
YES, THE coalition’s decision on Monday to temporarily shrink the judicial overhaul was a political nonstarter and a publicity ploy.
The decision, to make do for now with the government’s appointment of two Supreme Court justices and delay the rest of the legislative package for later, created none of the impression its authors hoped to create – namely, that they are retreating.
Related video: Israel passes law shielding Netanyahu from being removed as prime minister (NBC News) Duration 2:28 View on Watch
It took no Sherlock Holmes to detect the deceit. Even one justice’s appointment by the ruling coalition is one too many, let alone the appointment of the court’s president. The whole idea is to prevent such political tinkering, as our system lacks the constitution and bicameral legislature that form other democracies’ checks and balances.
Evidently, the man behind this mock retreat still thinks the people are the same idiots he habitually fooled over the years with ease and impunity and can thus be fooled again. That is why the stubbornness and lying with which he and his operation responded to the protest movement are still intact.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich thus repeated on Tuesday the lie that under the current system, “the judges appoint each other.” As explained here previously, the Judges Selection Committee includes three judges, four politicians and two lawyers, meaning the judges are a minority, and that’s beside the fact that a Supreme Court justice’s appointment requires the approval of seven of the committee’s nine members.
“I expect the Chief of General Staff and the heads of the security forces to fight firmly the [service] refusal [of reservist fighter pilots].”Benjamin Netanyahu
The same spirit of deceit inspired Netanyahu’s televised demand on Sunday, before the cabinet’s weekly meeting: “I expect the Chief of General Staff and the heads of the security forces to fight firmly the [service] refusal [of reservist fighter pilots].” Netanyahu thus conveniently ignored the fact that these pilots are volunteers who give the Air Force one day of their working week, year after year. Instead, just like he and his felonious police minister dare call the protesters “anarchists,” Netanyahu now made it sound as if the reservist pilots are enlisted servicemen evading service.
And so, while ignoring the pilots’ grievance – namely, his threat to Israeli democracy – Netanyahu made it seem as if the problem the airmen pose is not political but disciplinary, and thus not his business but IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi’s. Talk about shifting blame.
Well, despite the judicial revolutionaries’ continued lying and hoodwinking, this week’s events mean that Netanyahu now understands what he has uncorked and is desperately seeking a way to undo what he has done. Yes, he thought he could return the genie to the bottle by faking a retreat, but what he has just begun is a real retreat, an inglorious retreat from a Napoleonic misadventure’s inevitable collapse.
Netanyahu miscalculated Middle Israel's patriotism and sense of abuse
ALL INGLORIOUS retreats begin with miscalculation. Napoleon miscalculated the Russian winter, Nasser miscalculated Israel’s resolve to survive, and Argentina’s generalissimos miscalculated Britain’s will to fight. Netanyahu miscalculated Middle Israel’s patriotism, bellicosity and sense of abuse.
As this column warned him a month before the judiciary revolution’s announcement (“The Middle Israeli revolt,” December 9, 2022), Netanyahu emerged from his electoral victory intoxicated, convinced he and his allies’ abuse of Middle Israel can be redoubled at no cost, not realizing they are provoking its revolt. Now, faced with multitudes flooding the streets; staring at the blue-and-white forestations that the flags they carry form; and hearing the rebukes of entrepreneurs, economists, industrialists, rabbis, literati, former heads of the Mossad, Shin Bet, Rafael, the Atomic Energy Committee and a battery of retired generals including ten air-force commanders, from Amikam Norkin, 56, to Dan Tolkowsky, 102, Bibi knows that the revolt is here.
And as happened in other inglorious retreats, the failing offensive’s ranks are beginning to fray. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant threatens to resign; Economy Minister Nir Barkat vows to obey the court should it override the reform; and Likud MKs Eli Dallal and David Bitan call to halt the legislation and replace the judicial revolution’s unilateralism with dialogue.
Evidently, when Netanyahu besmirches patriotic pilots who risk their lives behind enemy lines while he is literally and visibly flanked by ultra-Orthodox ministers who did not serve in the army one hour, such Likudniks understand that they have been hijacked, that their leader has lost his cool, judgment and way, and that he and they now face only one choice: retreat.
www.MiddleIsrael.net
The writer, a Hartman Institute fellow, is the author of the bestselling Mitzad Ha’ivelet Ha’yehudi (The Jewish March of Folly, Yediot Sefarim, 2019), a revisionist history of the Jewish people’s political leadership.
