Netanyahu DELAYS plan to overhaul Israel’s judiciary after nationwide strikes and protests sparked turmoil as army chief warns his troops ‘a storm is brewing’
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to delay judicial reform over protests
- Statement from Jewish Power said reform would be ‘passed through dialogue’
- Read more: Embassy staff around the world are told to down tools in strike
The Israeli Prime Minister has delayed controversial plans to overhaul the judicial system after nationwide protests and strikes.
A statement from the far-right coalition member Jewish Power said that the legislation would be pushed to the next session of the Israeli parliament to ‘pass the reform through dialogue’.
The Israeli Parliament will go into recess next week for the Passover holiday.
Israeli embassies worldwide were among those instructed to join a strike on Monday against prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul plan, a workers’ union letter said.
Departing flights from the country’s main international hub, Ben Gurion 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.
Passengers wait for their flights during a strike at departures hall in Ben Gurion International airport near Tel Aviv, on March 27, 2023. – The hard-right Israeli government faced more protests and a general strike on March 27
Protesters gather with national flags outside Israel’s parliament in Jerusalem amid ongoing demonstrations and calls for a general strike against the hard-right government’s controversial push to overhaul the justice system, on March 27, 2023
Protesters hold up Israeli flags and placards as they gather outside Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, ahead of mass demonstrations in Jerusalem and a call for a general strike across Israel against the hard-right government’s controversial push to overhaul the justice system, on March 27, 2023
The U-turn on Netanyahu’s plan comes 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, Yoav Gallant, 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 parliament building to keep up the pressure on the country’s leadership.
The suggested overhaul – driven by Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, and his allies in Israel’s most right-wing government ever – plunged Israel into one of its worst domestic crises.
It sparked sustained protests that galvanised 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 army chief of staff called on soldiers on Monday to continue to do their duty and act with responsibility in the face of bitter social divisions over government plans to overhaul the judiciary.
‘This hour is different to any that we have known before. We have not known such days of external threats coalescing, while a storm is brewing at home,’ Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said, in remarks made public by the military press office.
Netanyahu tweeted on Monday: ‘I call on all the demonstrators in Jerusalem, on the right and the left, to behave responsibly and not to act violently. We are brotherly people.’
‘Where are we leading our beloved Israel? To the abyss,’ Arnon Bar-David, chairman of the Histadrut, said in a rousing speech to applause.
‘Today we are stopping everyone’s descent toward the abyss.’
As the embers of the highway bonfires were cleared on Monday, Israel’s 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.
Thousands of Israelis take the streets as they block Ayalon highway in response to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s surprise sacking of his defense minister Yoav Gallant in Tel Aviv, Israel on March 27, 2023
Israeli police use a water cannon to disperse demonstrators blocking a highway during a protest against plans by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to overhaul the judicial system in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, March 27, 2023
‘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.
Earlier today, Herzog urged Netanyahu to ‘come to your senses now’ after the widespread protests and national strike caused by sacking his defence minister for objecting to judicial reforms.
Netanyahu was expected to announce on Monday morning that he was stopping his plans, although his public statement was postponed after a coalition ally pleaded for him not to back down, Channel 12 TV reported.
It came as all flights were grounded at the nation’s main international hub, after the head of the Israel Airports Authority workers’ committee announced a strike.
Herzog said ‘the eyes of the whole world are on you’ following Netanyahu’s dismissal of Gallant on Sunday.
Herzog added: ‘I am addressing the prime minister, the members of the government and the companies and members of the coalition: the feelings are difficult and painful. Deep concern surrounds the entire nation.
‘Security, the economy, society – all are threatened. The eyes of all the people of Israel are on you. The eyes of the entire Jewish people are on you. The eyes of the whole world are on you.’
He continued: ‘For the sake of the unity of the people of Israel, for the sake of the responsibility, I call on you to stop the legislative process immediately.
‘I appeal to the heads of all Knesset factions, coalition and opposition alike, to put the citizens of the country above all else, and to act responsibly and courageously without further delay.
‘Come to your senses now! This is not a political moment, this is a moment for leadership and responsibility.’
Israel’s top trade union chief called a general strike Monday over the government’s controversial judicial reforms.
‘I am calling a general strike,’ Histadrut chairman Arnon Bar-David said in a televised address. ‘From the moment this press conference ends, the State of Israel stops.’
‘We have a mission to stop this legislative process and we will do it,’ he said, vowing to ‘continue to fight’.
The Israel Medical Association quickly followed suit, also announcing ‘a full strike in the health system’ that will impact all public hospitals.
Benjamin Netanyahu (file photo). Netanyahu was expected to announce this morning that he was stopping his plans, although his public statement was postponed after a coalition ally pleaded for him not to back down, Channel 12 TV reported
Israeli president Isaac Herzog (file photo). President Isaac Herzog said ‘the eyes of the whole world are on you’ following the Netanyahu’s dismissal of Yoav Gallant on Sunday.
The nationwide walkout was called hours after Herzog pressed for an immediate halt to the judicial programme, following major demonstrations in Tel Aviv overnight in response to the defence minister’s dismissal.
The plan to hand more control to politicians and diminish the role of the Supreme Court has ignited months of protests and sparked concern from Israel’s top allies, including the United States.
Netanyahu’s hard-right government has argued the changes are needed to re-balance powers between lawmakers and the judiciary.
Gallant, a staunch ally of Netanyahu, earlier 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 Gallant, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party. ‘It is a clear, immediate and tangible threat to Israel’s security.’
Moments after Netanyahu sacked Gallant, demonstrators seized a central highway in the coastal city of Tel Aviv, blocking traffic and burning tyres. Some threw metal barricades while police deployed water cannon.
Protesters clash with the police during a rally against the Israeli government’s judicial reform in Tel Aviv, Israel on March 27, 2023
Thousands of protesters block the Ayalon main highway during a mass protest against the government’s justice system reform plans in Tel Aviv, Israel, 27 March 2023
Israeli Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant (file photo).Israel’s top trade union chief called a general strike Monday over the hard-right government’s controversial judicial reforms, a day after Gallant’s dismissal
‘Israel is not a dictatorship,’ protesters chanted as a large crowd waved national flags and blew airhorns.
‘Last night we witnessed very difficult scenes,’ Herzog said. ‘The entire nation is rapt with deep worry… Our security, economy, society – all are under threat.’
After months of rallies, 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 others rallied in the northern city of Haifa and Beer Sheva in the south.
The activist movement has 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’.
Israelis opposed to prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul plan block a highway during a protest moments after the Israeli leader fired his defense minister, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, March 26, 2023
Protesters block a road as they gather around a bonfire during a rally against the Israeli government’s judicial reform in Tel Aviv, Israel on March 27, 2023
Protesters clash with the police during a rally against the Israeli government’s judicial reform in Tel Aviv, Israel on March 27, 2023
Israelis protest against prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul plan outside the parliament in Jerusalem, Monday, March 27, 2023
People attend a demonstration after Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the defense minister and his nationalist coalition government presses on with its judicial overhaul, in Jerusalem, March 27, 2023
Thousands of Israelis take the streets as they block Ayalon highway in response to prime minister Benjamin Netanyahuâs surprise sacking of his defense minister Yoav Gallant in Tel Aviv, Israel on March 27, 2023
Protesters block a road and gather around a bonfire during a rally against the Israeli government’s judicial reform in Tel Aviv, Israel on March 27, 2023
Police officers detain protesters during a demonstration after Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the defense minister and his nationalist coalition government presses on with its judicial overhaul, in Jerusalem, March 26, 2023
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 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.
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