TEL AVIV: Israel’s President Isaac Herzog on Monday urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the ruling coalition to halt its controversial judicial overhaul plan, following a dramatic night of countrywide protests.
Herzog, wrote on Twitter: “For the sake of unity with the people of Israel, for the sake of the responsibility that is owed, I call on you to stop the legislative process immediately.”
למען אחדות עם ישראל, למען האחריות המתחייבת אני קורא לכם לעצור את הליך החקיקה לאלתר.
אני פונה לראשי כל סיעות הכנסת, קואליציה ואופוזיציה כאחד, לשים את אזרחי המדינה מעל הכול, ולנהוג באחריות ובאומץ ללא דיחוי נוסף. תתעשתו כעת! זה לא רגע פוליטי, זה רגע למנהיגות ואחריות.
— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) March 27, 2023
The appeal by the head of state, whose position is largely ceremonial, comes a day after Netanyahu abruptly fired his defence minister for challenging his plan, sparking countrywide street protests.
Protesters, many wearing blue and white Israeli flags, blocked a main highway in Tel Aviv late on Sunday and lit large bonfires, while police tackled demonstrators who gathered outside the Israeli PM’s private home in Jerusalem.
Yesterday’s unrest further intensified a monthslong crisis over Netanyahu’s plan to overhaul the judiciary, which has sparked mass protests, alarmed former security chiefs and business leaders, and drawn concern from the United States and other close allies.
Netanyahu’s dismissal of Defence Minister Yoav Gallant was a signal that the prime minister and his allies are set to go ahead with the overhaul proposal. Gallant was the first senior member of the ruling Likud party to oppose the proposal, arguing that deep divisions were threatening to weaken the military.
Likud minister calls for a stop to overhaul legislation
As protesters flocked the streets late into the night, Likud ministers began indicating a willingness to halt the overhaul legislation. Culture Minister Micky Zohar, a Netanyahu confidant, said the party would support the PM if he decided to pause the judicial reform process.
A parliamentary committee voted to proceed with the next stage of the overhaul amid reports that Netanyahu had delayed a planned public statement, in which he was expected to talk publicly about his much-contested plans to overhaul Israel’s justice system. Some Israeli media had suggested he may pause the plans due to last night’s protests, or at least offer some kind of compromise, but pressure from within his own coalition government might make that tricky.
Meanwhile, the grassroots protest movement has said it would hold another mass demonstration outside the Knesset, or parliament, in Jerusalem.
