Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant this Saturday opened the first crack in Benjamin Netanyahu’s government over controversial judicial reform by publicly calling for her suspension. In a televised address at the same time as tens of thousands of people demonstrated for the twelfth consecutive Saturday, Gallant warned that the political and social crisis caused by the reform (which, if implemented, would weaken the separation of powers) “It was not born out of the Armed forces excluded,” alluding to the growing number of reservists — and even soldiers on duty — who are determined to turn down certain missions if he continues. “The level that feelings of anger, disappointment and fear have reached has never been seen before,” he added. The initiative’s first law was passed this Thursday, and this Saturday’s demonstration was one of the largest, with around 200,000 people in Tel Aviv alone.
After making it clear that he remains right-wing, Gallant – a respected reserve general – has stressed that his “vital mission is the security of the State of Israel” and that he is witnessing “erosion” these days. the source of his “strength”. “The growing divisions in our society are penetrating into the armed forces and security forces, posing a clear, immediate and palpable threat to the security of the state. I won’t let it happen,” he has condemned.
Gallant has spoken of “unprecedented” security challenges coming “from near and far,” which he privately detailed to Netanyahu. “Now I say it publicly: for the safety of Israel, for our sons and daughters, we must stop the legislative process and allow the Israeli nation to celebrate Pesach (Passover) and Independence Day together and mourn together on Memorial Day [a los soldados caídos] and Holocaust Remembrance”. Fears have been spreading in recent days that these anniversaries, which coincide next month, will be celebrated in the shadow of Partition. Some relatives of dead soldiers have told the press that they will not be present at the central event.
This is the first public confrontation within the executive branch and the most important within the Likud, Netanyahu’s right-wing party. In an apparently coordinated action, minutes after the announcement, two other members of the formation supported the minister. Yuli Edelstein thanked him for “taking the path” he’s been walking for weeks. He has already been absent from two votes and is being sanctioned by the party, although he has avoided revealing whether he would say the word negated (against) in the Knesset. And David Bitán has called on Twitter for “immediate negotiations” to reach “far-reaching agreements”. “I support the words of my friend, the Secretary of Defense,” he said.
It’s no surprise either. They were the first coalition MPs to call for the reform to be paralyzed. Gemstone and another formation MP, Danny Danón, also this month signed a joint call for dialogue with two members of the opposition National Unity party, Jili Tropper and Gadi Eisenkot, who respectively served as culture and sport ministers and chief of staff.
Yoav Gallant on March 9 in Tel Aviv.ATEF SAFADI (EFE)
Subscribe to EL PAÍS to follow all the news and read without limits.
subscribe to
Gallant’s blankets were not so well received by other party colleagues. Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi has apologized to Likud voters for Gallant’s “surrender” “under pressure from the left.” “The State of Israel is at a historic crossroads between democracy and dictatorship, and its Minister of Defense has chosen dictatorship,” he tweeted. MP Ofir Katz has asserted that Gallant was “completely wrong” before warning anyone abstaining or voting against the reform bills that their Likud career could be ended.
The person who has gone furthest is the head of national security and leader of the far-right Jewish Power Party, Itamar Ben Gvir: he has asked Netanyahu to remove him immediately. “Gallant has given in to blackmail and threats tonight to all those anarchists who are demanding a refusal to obey orders [en el Ejército] and they use the armed forces as a bargaining tool. He was elected with the votes of right-wing voters and in practice represents a left-wing agenda. At the crucial moment, it collapsed due to media and protester pressure,” he said in a message broadcast on his Telegram network channel.
differences
Gallant wanted to get off the reform train two days ago, but when the media announced his appearance in front of the cameras (and the stock market rose and the currency, the shekel, strengthened against the dollar), Netanyahu went ahead and called an urgent meeting. In the conversation, he asked him for time and convinced him not to spread the differences, which he had privately mediated for weeks, to the whole nation. The minister, like the chiefs of the General Staff Herzi Halevy and of the Shin Bet, intelligence agencies in Israel and the Palestinian Territories, have done in recent days Ronen Bar, expressed concern about the threat to the country’s security posed by this arises the political and social crisis, according to local media.
Barely an hour later, Netanyahu delivered a speech in which he adopted the most conciliatory tone yet (he called for a “balanced reform” that “addresses the fears and concerns” of supporters and opponents), but made it clear that the reform would proceed as planned. In other words, next week Parliament will vote on the final two readings of the law, which would allow the government to appoint at least two Supreme Court justices. The shekel fell again.
Gallant supports the concept of the law, but it’s the window to which his former colleagues in the army express their grievances and fears, and the one that gets the most information about the extent of the “rebellion” in the armed forces. This sets him apart from other party members like Yariv Levin (Justice), who is leading the reform and has been obsessed with the composition of the court since the beginning of his political career; or the Ministers of Religious Zionism and Jewish Power, the far-right coalition partners who have targeted the Supreme Court for years.
One of the ultra-Orthodox parties in the coalition, United Torah Judaism, supports executive control of the judiciary, largely to ensure its electorate is not forced into conscription. Indeed, in the alternative reform proposal he put forward on the 15th (which the government rejected within minutes and which the opposition accepted), the country’s President, Isaac Herzog, inserted a series of references to the ultra-Orthodox, who appeared to intend to do so calm her down on the matter to win her favor.
Follow all international information on Facebook and Twitteror in our weekly newsletter.
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits