UPDATE: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu suspends his proposed judicial reform plans

Massive protests broke out after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired Yoav Gallant, the Israeli Defence Minister.

Monday, March 27 at 8:55pm

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin  Netanyahu announced this Monday, March 28, that he will temporarily suspend his controversial plans for judicial reform. In a televised press conference, he has assured that he is going to “take time for dialogue” because he is not prepared “to divide the country into pieces”.

The country’s leader indicated that it is a matter of “national responsibility” and that for this reason, “in order to reach a broad consensus”, he would delay the second and third reading of the new norm – these are the steps that would be necessary to finalize its processing – until the next parliamentary session.

Today’s decision means that the coalition government has three weeks to negotiate with the opposition because in a few days time, the Knesset will go into recess for the holiday of Pesaj, the Jewish Passover.

A few hours earlier, Itamar Ben-Gvir, from the far-right Jewish Power coalition party assured that, after reaching an agreement, the norm would be postponed to the next session of the Israeli parliament.

“I agreed to remove the veto to reject the legislation in exchange for the prime minister’s commitment that the legislation would be submitted to the Knesset for approval at the next session”, said the current security minister, as reported by elespanol.com.

Monday, March 27 at 3:00am

As reported by the Ynet portal this Monday morning, March 27, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may announce the suspension of his government’s proposed judicial reform.

According to the portal, Netanyahu is currently holding consultations with his coalition partners in an office in Jerusalem. Senior officials in the coalition said there is a ‘great chance’ that the legal legislation will be postponed.

Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri and Torah Judaism informed Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that they would support the immediate halting of the legislation and ‘any decision that is made’, and voices in Likud also expressed support for the halting.

On the other hand, Justice Minister Yariv Levin is still strongly opposed to this and has even threatened to resign if there is a sudden U-turn. Tomorrow at 9am, the heads of the coalition will gather at the prime minister’s office, added the news portal.

Earlier, former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett tweeted: “The State of Israel is in great danger since the Yom Kippur War. I call on the Prime Minister to withdraw Gallant’s dismissal letter”.

He continued: “Suspend the reform and enter into a negotiation lull until after independence. It doesn’t matter who is right and who is wrong. I call on all the demonstrators and all the citizens of Israel – do everything without violence, without bloodshed”.

מדינת ישראל בסכנה הגדולה מאז מלחמת יום הכיפורים.

אני קורא לראש הממשלה למשוך את מכתב הפיטורין של גלנט,
להשהות את הרפורמה ולהיכנס להפוגת הידברות עד אחרי עצמאות.

לא חשוב מי צודק ומי טועה.

אני קורא לכל המפגינים ולכל אזרחי ישראל-עשו הכל בלי אלימות, בלי שפיכות דמים.

אחים אנחנו.

— Naftali Bennett נפתלי בנט (@naftalibennett) March 26, 2023

Protests erupted following news of the firing of the Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant. Crowds surrounded Netanyahu’s home in Jerusalem and attempted to break through the barriers that had been erected. The minister was home as it was reported that he had earlier been evacuated with his family to a safe location.

Streets packed outside Netanyahu's house in Jerusalem. People pushed through security barricades and went up against a water cannon. Per @AnshelPfeffer, it ran out of water and the crowd stayed put. pic.twitter.com/UunutI3Wa9

— Alejandro Alvarez 🫡 (@aletweetsnews) March 26, 2023

Sunday, March 26 at 9:02pm

Just one day after he publicly spoke out against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned overhaul of the country’s judicial system, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has been fired this evening, Sunday, March 26. The former army general is a senior member of Israel’s ruling Likud party.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided, this evening, to dismiss Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) March 26, 2023

“I declare loudly and publicly, for the sake of Israel’s security, for the sake of our sons and daughters, the legislative process should be stopped. The victory of a single side, whether it be in the halls of the Knesset, or on the streets of our cities, will lead to a loss for the State of Israel”, Gallant said yesterday, Saturday 25.

Following the sacking of his Defence Minister, Netanyahu tweeted: “We must all stand up strongly against refusals”.

כולנו חייבים להתייצב בעוצמה נגד סרבנות.

— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) March 26, 2023

According to Faytuks News just minutes ago, as a result of Gallant’s dismissal, the organisers of the demonstrations have called for an emergency protest this evening in the city of Tel Aviv.

Protest leaders have called for an emergency protest in Tel Aviv tonight after the firing of Israel's Defense Minister

— Faytuks News Δ (@Faytuks) March 26, 2023

Netayahu’s proposal to curb the powers of the Supreme Court has resulted in huge demonstrations taking place across the country for the past 10 weeks. Large numbers of Israeli Defence Force (IDF) reservists have shown their disapproval of the move by going on strike, as reported by Sky News.

Mass demonstrations have been staged, especially in the city of Tel Aviv which saw the biggest turnout yet on Saturday evening. It was reported online that hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets, with more protests said to be planned for the coming week.

300000 אורות של תקווה pic.twitter.com/PxDjceIdM5

— שקמה ברסלר Shikma Bressler (@ShikmaBressler) March 25, 2023

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