JERUSALEM—Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on March 27 delayed a decision on bitterly contested plans for a judicial overhaul to next month amid concern that Israel’s worst national crisis in years could fracture his coalition or escalate into violence.
It isn’t known whether the bill’s delay, amid a wave of protests, will satisfy either side or cool a crisis that the army chief on March 27 said made “this hour different to any before.”
Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir agreed to the delay in exchange for a commitment to submit the legislation in the next session of parliament.
Opponents of the plan to tighten parliament’s control over judicial processes say it’s a threat to democracy and have mobilized huge protests against it. Supporters of the legislation have promised counterdemonstrations.
Flights from Ben Gurion International Airport were grounded, and seaports, banks, hospitals, and medical services were also set to stop work as the head of the national labor union Histadrut called for a general strike to stop the judicial overhaul from going ahead.
“We have not known such days of external threats coalescing, while a storm is brewing at home,” Army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said on March 27.
Netanyahu, who called on Twitter for both sides to avoid violence, was trying to hold together his nationalist-religious coalition after his decision on March 26 to fire the defense chief, who opposed the legislation, prompted mass overnight protests.
While the government says the overhaul is needed to rein in activist judges and set a proper balance between the elected government and the judiciary, opponents see it as an undermining of legal checks and balances and a threat to Israel’s democracy.
Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich have said that the overhaul must go ahead, highlighting the tensions within Netanyahu’s coalition. Smotrich urged backers to join a protest.
“We will not let them steal our voice and our country,” he said.
However, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who has been leading the process, said that as a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, he would respect whatever decision the prime minister reaches.
“A situation in which everyone does as they wish is liable to bring about the instant fall of the government and collapse of Likud,” he said in a statement.
Night of Protests
The judicial legislation has ignited some of the biggest street demonstrations in Israel’s history and drawn a rare intervention by the head of state.“For the sake of the unity of the people of Israel, for the sake of responsibility, I call on you to stop the legislative process immediately,” President Isaac Herzog wrote on Twitter.
Netanyahu, himself on trial on corruption charges that he denies, has promised to ensure that civil rights are protected but hasn’t backed down from the central thrust of the reforms.
However, the stark warning by Herzog, whose function is largely ceremonial and supposed to stand above politics, underlined the alarm caused by the proposals, which would tighten political control over judicial appointments and allow parliament to overrule the Supreme Court.
It followed a dramatic night of protests in cities across Israel following Netanyahu’s announcement that he had decided to dismiss Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for opposing the plans. Gallant urged the government to halt its plans, warning that the deep split it has opened up in Israeli society is affecting the military and threatening national security.
The crisis comes as Israel’s security establishment has been bracing for potential violence in the coming weeks as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan overlaps with the Jewish Passover and the Christian Easter celebration.
Over the past year, Israeli defense forces have been conducting nearly daily raids in the West Bank. In response to Palestinian attackers, Israel’s military has killed more than 250 Palestinian fighters and, unfortunately, civilians in anti-terror operations. More than 40 Israelis and foreigners also have been killed by crossfire during the operations.
