Israel

Israeli politics descended into turmoil, with Benjamin Netanyahu's hardline government facing a spiralling backlash to its bitterly contested plans to ...

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A day earlier, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu fired his Defence Minister Yoav Gallant after he called the government to halt the ...

Bigger and fiercer protests break, with tens of thousands taking to the streets. The government dismisses the protests as the left refusing to accept the results of November’s election. Netanyahu says the changes are needed to curb activist judges who overreach their powers to interfere in politics. [tells Netanyahu](/news/2023/3/24/israeli-govt-shows-signs-of-split-over-pms-judiciary-plans) that his personal involvement in plans to change the country’s judiciary is illegal. [the first reading](/news/2023/3/14/controversial-judicial-law-passes-first-vote-in-israeli-knesset) of the judicial changes bill. [thousands of people](/gallery/2023/3/27/photos-mass-protests-erupt-in-israel) taking to the streets in Tel Aviv to protest Gallant’s dismissal.

Protesters have called for the reforms to be scrapped and for the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to resign. His political rivals have spearheaded the ...

The government argues that voters elected it on a promise of reforming the judiciary and attempts to stop it are undemocratic. One reform has already been passed into law - removing the power of the attorney general to pronounce a sitting prime minister as unfit for office. Since the start of the year, huge weekly protests have been held by people opposed to the government's reform plans.

Protesters clash with the police during a rally against the Israeli government's judicial reform in Tel Aviv, Israel on March 27. Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty ...

“The eyes of all the people of Israel are on you. Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who has strongly advocated for the reform to be pushed through, opened the door to the possibility of a delay on Monday. The eyes of all the Jewish people are on you. Opponents say the plans threaten the foundations of Israeli democracy. The eyes of the whole world are on you. Some military reservists have pledged to pull out of their service in opposition to the plans, which critics say would undermine the independence of the judiciary. We have been taken hostage by a bunch of extremists with no brakes and no boundaries,” he said. All takeoffs from Israel’s main airport, Ben Gurion Tel Aviv, were halted for several hours because of the strike. Gallant argued for a halt to the judicial reforms in a speech Saturday night, when Netanyahu was out of the country on an official visit to the United Kingdom. For the sake of the unity of Israelis, for the sake of committed responsibility I call on you to halt the legislative procedure immediately.” We are brotherly people,” he said on Twitter. In a statement issued later, Lapid called the past 24 hours “madness,” “loss of control” and “loss of direction.”

The strike by the Histadrut umbrella group, which represents nearly 800000 workers, could paralyze large parts of Israel's economy.

The developments were being watched in Washington, which is closely allied with Israel yet has been uneasy with Netanyahu and the far-right elements of his government. Netanyahu’s dismissal of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant appeared to signal that the prime minister and his allies will barrel ahead this week with the overhaul plan. Netanyahu had reportedly spent the night in consultations and was set to speak to the nation, but later delayed his speech. Netanyahu returned to power late last year after a protracted political crisis that sent Israelis to the polls five times in less than four years. He denies wrongdoing and has dismissed accusations that the legal overhaul is designed to find him an escape route from the trial. To the abyss,” Arnon Bar-David, the union group head, said in a rousing speech to applause. Universities across the country said they were shutting their doors “until further notice.” Israeli media reported that a lawyer representing Netanyahu in his corruption trial threatened to quit if the overhaul was not halted. The crisis has also shined a light on Netanyahu himself, Israel’s longest serving leader, and the lengths he may be willing to go to maintain his grip on power, even as he battles the corruption charges. The protesters say they are fighting for the very soul of the nation, seeing the overhaul as a direct challenge to Israel’s democratic ideals. Thousands of protesters were gathering Monday outside the Knesset, or parliament, in a bid to ramp up the pressure on the government. The growing resistance to the plan came hours after tens of thousands of people burst into the streets around the country in a spontaneous show of anger at Netanyahu’s decision to fire his defense minister after he called for a pause to the overhaul. The overhaul, driven by Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, and his allies in Israel’s most right-wing government ever, has plunged Israel into one of its worst domestic crises.

La plus grosse centrale syndicale israélienne a annoncé lundi «une grève générale» immédiate, exigeant l'arrêt du projet de réforme de la justice.

«Au vu de la situation sécuritaire, il est évident que ce n'est pas le moment de changer de ministre de la Défense», a affirmé M. Alors que les médias israéliens évoquent une menace du ministre de la Sécurité intérieure, Itamar Ben Gvir, de quitter le gouvernement - ce qui pourrait faire perdre à M. L'État d'Israël ne peut pas en ce moment, face aux menaces sur tous les fronts, s'autoriser un changement de ministre de la Défense», a déclaré de son côté lundi le chef de l'opposition israélienne Yaïr Lapid, dans une conférence de presse, rejoint en ce sens par Yuli Edelstein, un ténor du Likoud, le parti de M. Dimanche soir, des milliers de personnes sont descendues dans la rue à Tel-Aviv après le limogeage par M. Herzog joue un rôle essentiellement protocolaire et ses appels répétés à trouver une solution de compromis sur la réforme ont été jusqu'ici sans effet et n'ont pas empêché le pays de glisser peu à peu dans la crise. À 13 h (10 h GMT), des milliers d'opposants à la réforme manifestent devant le Parlement à Jérusalem, selon des journalistes de l'AFP sur place.

Après l'annonce du limogeage dimanche par M. Netanyahu, des milliers de manifestants ont convergé, selon la police, vers la rue Kaplan dans le centre de ...

Selon la pétition du Mouvement pour un gouvernement de qualité en Israël, consultée par l’AFP, M. À Tel-Aviv, des manifestants ont incendié des pneus dimanche soir, a indiqué la police dans un communiqué. Dans un discours retransmis à la télévision jeudi soir, M. L’annonce de son renvoi a entraîné la démission du consul général d’Israël à New York, Asaf Zamir. Samedi, Yoav Gallant, pourtant du même parti de droite que M. Mais selon ses détracteurs, le projet met en péril le caractère démocratique de l’État d’Israël.

(Bloomberg) --. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu considered a delay to his judicial overhaul plan after a night of enraged demonstrations and Israel's main ...

“As the President recently discussed with Prime Minister Netanyahu, democratic values have always been, and must remain, a hallmark of the US-Israel relationship,” National Security Council Spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement. The bill’s proponents say that in nearly every democracy, winners of elections get to select judges, and they are bringing Israel in line with that practice. The proposed legislation is split up into a series of bills.

PM Netanyahu is expected to speak on his controversial judicial changes, reports say, after protests hit the country.

Mass protests have erupted in Israel in recent months over controversial judicial reforms pushed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

This is not a political moment, this is a moment for leadership and responsibility." It is proof that this government has lost its brakes," he said, calling on Netanyahu to walk back his firing of his defense minister. "We must all strive to stabilise the government and coalition." The planned overhaul would significantly weaken the country's judiciary and make it harder to remove Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, from power. McDonald's Israel says it has closed branches as part of the strike action. "Stop this judicial process before it is too late," Arnon Bar-David, Israel's Histadrut union leader, said in a televised speech, addressing Netanyahu directly.

We are deeply concerned by today's developments out of Israel, which further underscore the urgent need for compromise. As the President recently discussed ...

We believe that is the best path forward for Israel and all of its citizens. 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. As the President recently discussed with Prime Minister Netanyahu, democratic values have always been, and must remain, a hallmark of the U.S.-Israel relationship.

Israël est suspendu lundi à une annonce de son premier ministre Benyamin Nétanyahou sur le projet de réforme de la justice, qui divise le pays et contre ...

Herzog, qui joue un rôle essentiellement protocolaire, a appelé lundi matin le gouvernement à « stopper immédiatement » l’examen de la réforme au Parlement. Des milliers d’Israéliens étaient alors descendus spontanément dans la rue à Tel-Aviv, donnant lieu dans la nuit à des heurts avec les forces de l’ordre. Lundi encore, une foule, estimée à 80 000 manifestants selon des médias israéliens, s’est rassemblée autour du Parlement à Jérusalem pour protester contre la réforme. « Si la législation s’arrête réellement et totalement, nous sommes prêts à entamer un véritable dialogue à la résidence du président », a réagi le chef de l’opposition, Yaïr Lapid. L’arrêt du processus législatif est « la bonne chose » à faire, a réagi M. « Je donne une vraie chance à un vrai dialogue [afin] d’empêcher la division du peuple », a déclaré M.

Israeli prime minister likely to put controversial legislation on hold amid mass protests overnight.

Supporters of the changes, introduced almost immediately after the new government entered office in December, say they are needed to better balance the branches of government and combat a perceived leftwing bias in the court’s rulings. Only one in four voters support the judicial overhaul, according to recent polling by Israel’s Channel 12. Even as protests raged across the country overnight, a parliamentary committee continued to approve parts of the legislation, meaning the bills can go to the Knesset plenum for new readings. Critics say they will give politicians too much power over the judiciary by allowing a simple majority in the Knesset to overrule almost all of the court’s decisions, and give politicians a decisive say on appointments to the bench. In a tweet, Rothman urged supporters of the overhaul to take to the streets and “not to give up on the people’s choice”. [dramatic night of protests](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/26/benjamin-netanyahu-fires-defence-minister-yoav-gallant-judicial-overhaul) sparked by Netanyahu’s decision to sack his defence minister [for opposing](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/25/tel-aviv-demonstrations-against-benjamin-netanyahu-judicial-overhaul-israel) the judicial plans, and builds on significant pushback from the military, Israel’s vital hi-tech sector, and allies in the US.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's proposed judicial overhaul has unleashed the most intense social unrest in Israel in decades.

A pause would help ease the tensions and buy Netanyahu some time to find a compromise. Levin, the justice minister who has led the efforts to rush the plan through parliament, said he would respect Netanyahu’s wishes if he called for a delay. Doctors and day care workers said they would stay off the job, and others were expected to join as well. In security-obsessed Israel, Gallant, a gruff retired general, is among the most respected members of the new Cabinet. They also say Netanyahu has a deep conflict of interest in trying to reshape the legal system while on trial. Israeli media, citing unnamed officials inside Netanyahu’s Likud party, said he was expected to delay his plan. With morale down and soldiers threatening not to report for duty, Gallant said that pushing ahead could hurt Israel’s military readiness. The decision was felt almost immediately. But the eruption of anger over Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s dismissal, organized quickly largely via the WhatsApp messaging app, was startling. After he was indicted, Netanyahu’s former governing partners turned on him, and he was unable to form a stable, lasting coalition. The union joins business leaders, bank chiefs, fighter pilots, military reservists, academics, former security commanders and other influential sectors of society in coming out against the plan. Israel’s largest trade union declared a general strike – paralyzing the country’s international airport – and thousands of people gathered outside parliament for another day of protests.