Agencies
Jerusalem
After weeks of mass protests in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed a temporary halt to his government’s controversial judicial reforms.
“I have decided to suspend the second and third readings in this session,” Netanyahu said in Jerusalem on Monday. This means that the bill will not be put to a vote in parliament until 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 to pass.
“Everyone must act responsibly,” he added. Earlier on Monday, Israel’s Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir said he and Netanyahu had agreed to postpone the reform. A government spokesman also said that a “national guard” would be established under the leadership of the far-right minister. What this means in concrete terms was initially unclear.
According to media reports, Ben-Gvir and Netanyahu had previously met for an emergency session in which Ben-Gvir is said to have threatened to resign if Netanyahu did not stick to the reform plans. Organizers of the demonstrations, which have been going on for weeks, announced they would continue the protests.
“The government has brought Israel close to destruction and it is still threatening to dismantle democracy. A temporary freeze is not enough and the national protests will continue to intensify until the law is rejected in the Knesset,” they said in a statement. The government accuses the Supreme Court of insubordinate interference in political decisions.
If the legislation is passed, parliament would be able to overturn decisions of the Supreme Court with a simple majority. The bill also gives the prime minister greater protection against impeachment. Critics see the separation of powers being in danger and some have even warned about what they described as the creeping introduction of a dictatorship.
Despite the protests, a core element of the controversial reforms cleared another hurdle on Monday when a bill that would change the composition of the judges’ selection committee passed a key stage. Opponents say the government would now have too much influence on the appointment of judges.
Earlier, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for counter protests against the mass demonstrations. “Come to Jerusalem...We are the majority, let’s raise our voices. We won’t let them steal our voices and the country,” far-right politician Smotrich said in a video on Twitter, stating that the justice reforms will not be stopped.
Israel’s political crisis had escalated further following the dismissal of Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. Netanyahu dismissed Gallant on Sunday because of his call to stop the judicial reform. On Saturday, Gallant asked the government to engage in dialogue with critics.
The anger towards Netanyahu, the dismissal and the reform plans of his right-wing religious government was evident in Israel.
