Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, March 26, sacked his defense minister, who the day before had called for a month-long pause in the government’s contentious judicial reform process.
The reform, which aims to increase the power of elected officials over judges, says its critics endanger the democratic character of the State of Israel. Mr Netanyahu and his far-right and ultra-Orthodox allies believe there is a need to restore a balance of power between elected officials and the Supreme Court, which they believe is politicized.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to impeach Defense Minister Yoav Galant,” his office said in a brief statement. In a speech on Saturday night, Mr Galant, despite belonging to the same right-wing party as Mr Netanyahu, the Likud, said he feared persistent popular divisions over the issue would create a “real security threat”. Israel’.
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“Israel’s security has always been my life’s work,” he said on Sunday. on twitter in response to his dismissal. The day before, he called for “the legislative process” to be suspended for a month ahead of a crucial week marked by different legislation and new mass demonstrations.
A sequence of events
“I am attached to the values of Likud (…), but big changes at national level must be achieved through consultation and dialogue,” the minister added. Mr Galant also called for an end to the demonstrations at a time when some 200,000 anti-reformers gathered in Tel Aviv, according to Israeli media estimates.
Demonstrations have followed each week since the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, one of the most far-right in Israel’s history, unveiled the reform project that is dividing the country in January.
“Netanyahu can fire Gallant, but he cannot fire reality and he cannot fire the people of Israel who resist the madness of the coalition,” opposition leader Yair Lapid tweeted. “Israel’s prime minister is a threat to Israel’s security,” he wrote.
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On Saturday night he hailed Mr Gallant’s remarks, describing them as “not brave (…) for Israel’s security”. Two Likud MPs also tweeted their support for Mr Galant on Saturday and questioned whether the government could expect a majority if a vote was taken.
Israel’s key allies, including Washington, have questioned plans to give politicians more power and limit the role of the Supreme Court. US President Joe Biden has expressed “concern” about these judicial reforms, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said on Wednesday.
Prime Minister accused of corruption
On Friday in London, where he received Mr Netanyahu, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak underscored “the importance of respect for the democratic values that underpin the relationship (between the two countries), including the judicial reform project in Israel”. to a speaker in Downing Street.
Israeli MPs are expected to vote in the coming days on one of the key elements of the reform, which has been at the heart of their critics’ concerns, and which involves changing the procedure for appointing judges. In a televised speech on Thursday evening, Mr Netanyahu, who has so far kept a low profile on the issue, pledged to “end the division among the people” while emphasizing his determination to press ahead with reform.
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The next day he was called to order by the courts, which ruled that his public intervention was “unlawful” given his ongoing corruption cases. And on Sunday, the Supreme Court gave the prime minister a week to respond to an NGO petition calling for him to be sanctioned for “contempt of court” after that speech.
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According to the Movement for Good Government in Israel’s petition, presented to Agence France-Presse, Mr Netanyahu, who faces charges of corruption on a number of counts, has violated an agreement reached with the judiciary to ban an accused prime minister from acting is prohibited from engaging in any area that, according to a 2020 Supreme Court ruling, could place him or her in a conflict of interest.