The ruling coalition must move the judicial reform bill forward in the Knesset, chanting shouts from the crowd of some 10,000 protesters, according to The Jerusalem Post.
Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir from the far right joined the large demonstration.
Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu announced a postponement of the contentious court reform proposals earlier on Monday.
Netanyahu claimed in a speech that a “extremist minority” was attempting to split Israel.
According to Netanyahu, if dialogue may help prevent civil conflict, he will make time for it.
The final reading of the bill to revamp the court was delayed, the Israeli prime minister said, “out of national responsibility.”
Israeli PM calls on citizens to refrain from violence as mass protests continue across the country. Our correspondent Mustafa Fatih Yavuz has more pic.twitter.com/ebVUHU9ytB
— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) March 27, 2023
Looming threat of resigns
Ben-Gvir, the leader of the far-right Otzma Yehudit Party, threatened to quit the cabinet if the court reform was not implemented.
Yariv Levin, the justice minister, too made a resignation threat, although he advocated for delaying the vote on the contentious proposal to allow for discussion with the opposition.
Following Netanyahu’s dismissal of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for advocating the suspension of the judicial reform proposal, unrest erupted across Israel on Sunday.
Gallant reportedly stated that if Netanyahu reverses his decision to fire him, he will stay in his current position, according to Israeli public television KAN.
Embassies join strike
According to a workers’ union letter obtained by Reuters, Israeli embassies throughout the world have been ordered to participate in a walkout on Monday in opposition to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposal to revamp the judiciary.
The letter stated that only emergency services will be provided by the Foreign Ministry both domestically and overseas, citing a Histadrut labor federation-called statewide strike in Israel.
Chairman of the Histadrut Arnon Bar-David announced in a televised address, “I am calling a general strike.” He continued, saying, “We have a mission to stop this legislative process and we will do it.”
‘Greater Danger’
Naftali Bennett, a former Israeli prime minister, claimed in a late-night Sunday tweet that Israel is “in greater danger than ever since the Yom Kippur War,” in which Israel fought both Egypt and Syria.
He requested the government to hold talks and the resignation of Yoav Gallant, the defense minister, by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The UN’s human rights chief Volker Turk begs Israel to hold off on the revisions because, in his words, “if passed, these changes risk weakening human rights protections for all.”
Along with the military, there have been significant public protests against the proposed revamp of the judiciary for months. Protesters have criticized the proposal as a government power grab.
Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, asserts that his proposal would strengthen democracy and reinstate the proper proportions of power between the legislative, executive, and judicial institutions.
Source – TRT World
