How Israel’s political crisis has deepened as protests intensify over judicial reforms

Israel is witnessing one of its biggest crises since it was established 75 years ago. For months, hundreds of thousands of Israelis have been taking to the streets to protest against the controversial plans to reform the country’s judicial system. The demonstrations, the largest ever in the country, intensified late Sunday after prime Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sacked Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for opposing the changes.

The overhaul will give the government more control over Israel’s judiciary – from the appointment of judges to deciding the laws the Supreme Court can rule on and giving the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, more power to overturn the top court’s decision.

Netanyahu’s plan, which has led to massive demonstrations, has been opposed by former security chiefs and business leaders. It has caused concern among some of the country’s closest allies including the United States.

The latest to speak out against the planned judicial overhaul is Yoav Gallant, who has now been dismissed as defence minister. And more ministers from the ruling party are raising similar concerns.

Also read: Israel witnesses ‘biggest’ protest in history: What has angered the public?

The removal of Gallant

Yoav Gallant, 64, was fired as defence minister on Sunday after he became the first senior minister of the ruling Likud party to call for a pause in implementing the reforms.

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, according to a CNN report.

“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.”

Announcing Gallant’s removal in a one-line statement, Netanyahu’s office said, “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to remove Defence Minister Yoav Gallant from his post.”

In a televised speech on Saturday, Gallant had said that the reforms should be halted, saying that the deep divisions were threatening to weaken the military. He warned that the changes to the judicial system risked “a clear, immediate and tangible threat to the security of the state”.

“At this time, for the sake of our country, I am willing to take any risk and pay any price,” he said, according to a report on Al Jazeera.

After his sacking, Gallant tweeted, “The state of Israel’s security has always been and will always be my life’s mission.”

The soldier-turned-politician has been listening to reservists who were upset with the proposed changes to the law.
Gallant is a former navy admiral who was named defence minister on 28 December after Netanyahu won the election in November last year and formed a government backed by ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties and an extreme-right bloc. He has also served in several ministerial posts in Netanyahu’s previous Cabinets.

Protests intensify

After Gallant’s dismissal, protesters hit the streets in large numbers. In Tel Aviv, they lit fires on the highway. Clashes were reported as police tried to clear the road and douse the fires.

In Jerusalem, as demonstrators gathered near Netanyahu’s private home, the police and soldiers used water cannons to disperse them. Many evaded the forces and arrived at the Knesset, flying the Israeli flags and banging pots and pans, reports the BBC.

A government employee told the BBC that she felt Netanyahu “crossed every line we have as a democratic country”. “We’re defending the last bit of democracy we have and I can’t go to sleep this way. I can’t do anything until we stop this craziness,” she added.

According to a report by CNN, the protests had thinned out by 2 am.

But this is not the end of the stir. Universities in the country will go on strike on Monday and the country’s largest labour union and business leaders will

The fallout

Gallant’s removal has only deepened the political crisis in Israel with more authorities opposing the controversial reforms.

In response to Netanyahu’s decision to fire his defence minister, Israel’s Consul General in New York Asaf Zamir resigned. In a short tweet, Zamir wrote, “I quit,” adding an Israeli flag emoji.

He called Netanyahu’s move a “dangerous decision”, adding that he had “become increasingly concerned with the policies of the new government, and in particular, the judicial reform it is leading.”

The past 18 months as Israel’s Consul General in New York were fulfilling and rewarding, but following today’s developments, it is now time for me to join the fight for Israel’s future to ensure it remains a beacon of democracy and freedom in the world. Here is the letter I sent: pic.twitter.com/Sfz8y3ALLv

— Asaf Zamir (@AmbAsafZamir) March 26, 2023

More voices join the call to stop reforms

It’s unclear if plans for the reforms will go ahead as more leaders raise their voices.

After Gallant now Israel’s president Isaac Herzog has urged the government to immediately halt its planned judicial overhaul, saying that “the eyes of the whole world are on you.”

“I turn to the Prime Minister, members of the government and members of the coalition: the feelings are hard and painful. Deep concern hovers over the entire nation. Security, economy, society — everyone is threatened. 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,” Herzog said in a post on his official Facebook page.

“For the sake of the unity of Israelis, for the sake of committed responsibility, I call on you to halt the legislative procedure immediately.”

Other Israeli ministers, who are members of Netanyahu’s Likud party, said that the PM should stop judicial reforms. “When the house is on fire, you don’t ask who is right, but pour water and save its occupants… If the Prime Minister decides to stop the legislation in order to prevent the rift created in the nation, we must support his position,” Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar tweeted.

Economy Minister Nir 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, reports CNN. “The reform is necessary and we will do it – but not at the cost of a civil war,” he said.

Former PM Naftali Bennett has also asked Netanyahu to suspend the plan for reforms and called for reinstating Gallant. “I call on the Prime Minister to withdraw Gallant’s letter of dismissal, suspend the [judicial] reform, and enter into a lull of negotiation until after Independence Day,” Bennett said on Twitter. “It doesn't matter who is right and who is wrong. I call on all the demonstrators and all Israeli citizens — do everything without violence, without bloodshed. We are brothers.”

Another former prime minister Yair Lapid also slammed the decision to fire Gallant, calling it a “new low”. 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”, he wrote on Twitter.

Lapid also issued a statement with Opposition leader Benny Gantz. “State security cannot be a card in the political game. Netanyahu crossed a red line tonight,” they said, calling on the Likud party not to have a hand in “the crushing of national security”, reports Al Jazeera.

Israel’s ally the United States is concerned about the developments and urged leaders to reach a compromise soon. “Democratic societies are strengthened by checks and balances, and fundamental changes to a democratic system should be pursued with the broadest possible base of popular support,” White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said in a statement.

Defiant Netanyahu

In an exclusive interview with British broadcaster Piers Morgan, which is expected to air on Monday, Netanyahu said, “I’m not trying to destroy democracy, I’m trying to save it.”

Morgan posted the quote from the interview on Twitter on Sunday evening.

With inputs from agencies

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