After massive protests, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a temporary halt to the controversial judicial reform. “I have decided to suspend the second and third readings in this session,” Netanyahu said in Jerusalem. The legislative proposal will therefore be submitted to Parliament for a vote at the end of April at the earliest.
“We are in the midst of a crisis that threatens our essential unity,” Netanyahu said. He warned of a civil war that must not come about. “Everyone must act responsibly,” he said. So he stretches out his hand for dialogue.
Organizers of the demonstrations, which have been going on for weeks, announced that they would continue the protests. “The government has brought Israel close to destruction and it still threatens to dismantle democracy. A temporary freeze is not enough and national protests will continue to intensify until the law is rejected in the Knesset,” it said in the evening a message.
The price of the shift
Before Netanyahu’s speech, Israel’s Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir announced that he had agreed with him on a postponement. In return, a “national guard” is to be set up under the leadership of the far-right politician. What this means in concrete terms was not initially clear.
However, critics have already spoken of a tax-financed private army of Ben-Gvir. They expressed concern that the armed forces could act more brutally against demonstrators from the liberal camp than the police. Ben-Gvir had repeatedly criticized the police’s actions against the protests as too weak. Fears that these new forces could be used against Palestinians in the West Bank were also shared on social networks.
According to media reports, Ben-Gvir and Netanyahu had previously met for an emergency meeting, in which Ben-Gvir is said to have threatened to resign if Netanyahu did not stick to the reform plans.
climax of the protest
Previously, tens of thousands of people had flocked to the streets to protest against the government’s controversial plans. In the course of a general strike, air traffic was severely disrupted. The workers’ union at Ben Gurion International Airport announced a stop at the airport earlier this morning. Tens of thousands of travelers were affected by the decision. The umbrella organization of the trade unions in Israel had called for a general strike to stop the “madness” of the government.
Many workers elsewhere followed the call of the umbrella organization called Histadrut, which has around 800,000 members. Several shopping centers and universities in the country remained closed. Israeli embassies around the world and high-tech companies also joined. The dynamic start-up scene is considered the most important driver of the Israeli economy. Hospitals were also affected by the strike. They worked in a slimmed-down shift system. The general strike should be lifted on Tuesday, Histadrut announced.
The Last Drop
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had fueled the massive protest with the dismissal of Defense Minister Joav Galant on Sunday evening. Galant had previously called for talks with critics and a halt to controversial plans for judicial reform, and warned of a threat to Israel’s security.
Israel’s right-wing religious government has been pushing ahead with this reform with all its might for weeks. The coalition around Netanyahu accuses the Supreme Court of excessive interference in political decisions. In the future, for example, Parliament should be able to overturn decisions of the Supreme Court with a simple majority. In addition, the composition of the body for appointing judges is to be changed. Critics see the separation of powers in danger, some even warn against the creeping introduction of a dictatorship.
Herzog appeals to the government
President Izchak Herzog called on the government to give in. “For the sake of the unity of the Israeli people, for the sake of responsibility, I urge you to stop legislation immediately,” he said in the morning. The people are in deep fear.
Despite the protests, a core element of the controversial reform cleared another hurdle in the morning. Parliament’s Judiciary Committee approved the text of the law intended to change the composition of the Judiciary Committee. At the same time, the draft was referred to the plenary for the final reading. The change in law would give the government a majority on the body and considerable influence over the appointment of judges.
The far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for counter-protests on Twitter. “Come to Jerusalem. (…) We are the majority, let’s raise our voice. We won’t let our voice and the state be stolen from us,” said Smotrich in a video distributed on Twitter.
International Critical
The plans also sparked considerable criticism internationally. Even the US government, Israel’s most important ally, was “deeply concerned” in a statement: In view of the planned “fundamental changes to a democratic system”, the White House called on the Israeli leadership “strongly to find a compromise as soon as possible”. The federal government is also concerned about developments in Israel, said government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit.
