Days after nationwide turmoil, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late on Monday paused his signature plan to overhaul the country’s judiciary.
The plans by Netanyahu’s nationalist religious coalition to hand control over judicial appointments to the executive while giving parliament the power to overturn Supreme Court rulings has ignited one of the biggest internal crises in Israeli history.
Announcing his decision late on Monday to suspend the plans until parliament returns after the break for the Passover holiday and Independence Day next month, Netanyahu said the crisis required all sides to act responsibly.
“Israeli society is on a dangerous collision course. We are in the midst of a crisis that is endangering the basic unity between us,” he said in a prime time television address.
As he made the address, huge crowds had gathered in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, including a large counter-demonstration by right-wing supporters of the overhaul.
Their presence prompted fears of possible violence between the two sides, but the evening passed with no reports of major violence.
While Netanyahu and his supporters said the plans would ensure a proper balance between the elected government and the judiciary and would not endanger individual and minority rights, they have drawn sustained and furious opposition.
The opposition parties gave a cautious welcome to Netanyahu’s decision to suspend the overhaul to allow time to reach an agreement. However, many protesters remained mistrustful.
Israel’s largest trade union is one of the most powerful institutions in the country, representing nearly 800,000 people across sectors that include health care, banking, government services, day care and transportation. While the union has crippled parts of the economy in past labor disputes over the years, never before has it gone on strike to protest a political matter.
Netanyahu returned to power late last year in a coalition with ultra-Orthodox and ultranationalist allies, forming the country’s most right-wing government ever. He was on an 18-month political exile. However, he denies any wrongdoing in the corruption cases.
WHAT HAPPENED IN ISRAEL
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposed judicial overhaul unleashed the most intense social unrest in Israel in decades as tens of thousands of people repeatedly took to the streets to protest the proposal. Netanyahu’s confidant, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, unveiled the overhaul in January. Key figures in Netanyahu’s Likud Party, along with his governing partners, pledged to quickly overhaul the country’s judicial system, which critics say is driven by a desire to push their ideological agendas with less judicial oversight.
Opponents said the overhaul would upend the country’s delicate system of checks and balances by giving Netanyahu’s ruling coalition control over what is now an independent judiciary. They also said Netanyahu has a deep conflict of interest in trying to reshape the legal system while on trial. The changes would give the governing coalition control over judicial appointments and weaken the country’s Supreme Court by granting parliament the authority to overturn its decisions and limiting judicial review of laws.
Spontaneous mass demonstrations erupted across the country late Sunday after Netanyahu fired his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for questioning the overhaul. Gallant was the first cabinet minister to break ranks and publicly call for a delay in the overhaul. With morale down and soldiers threatening not to report for duty, Gallant said that pushing ahead could hurt Israel’s military readiness. Business leaders, bank chiefs, fighter pilots, military reservists, academics, former security commanders and other influential sectors of society also came out against the plan. In roughly one hour, tens of thousands of people blocked Tel Aviv’s main highway, and thousands more demonstrated outside Netanyahu’s Jerusalem home.
Netanyahu, currently on trial on corruption charges, had previously promised the overhaul would not pose a threat to individual rights but had given no sign of giving way on any of its essentials. Coming at a time when Israel faces a prolonged security crisis in the occupied West Bank as well as rising tensions with Iran, Gallant’s dismissal had appeared to many a sign that the government had set aside the national interest.
On Monday, Netanyahu said he would delay the plan. Netanyahu said he was still determined to pass a judicial reform but would take the time to seek a compromise. The head of the country’s largest trade union responded by saying it would call off a general strike that threatened to grind the country’s economy to a halt.
Even before Netanyahu’s Monday speech, some 20,000 right-wing Israelis attended a counter-demonstration in support of the prime minister. The demonstration took place near the parliament and passed without violence.
“They won’t steal the election from us,” read a flyer for event, organized by Religious Zionist party.
Netanyahu said he was “moved” by the show of support.