Jerusalem CNN —
Massive crowds filled the streets of the Israeli city of Tel Aviv late Sunday night after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired his defense minister over his opposition to a proposed judicial overhaul.
Demonstrators waving Israeli flags and shouting “democratia” blocked roads and bridges, including the Ayalon Highway.
Protesters ignited multiple fires on Tel Aviv’s main street, their acrid black smoke rising into the sky and partially obscuring some of the city’s iconic skyscrapers. Demonstrators also gathered next to the highway and burned scrap metal and wood, with almost no police nearby.
Israel’s political crisis deepened on Sunday when Netanyahu’s office issued a one-line statement announcing the removal of Yoav Gallant after he became the first cabinet member to call for a pause on controversial plans to overhaul the country’s court system.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to remove Defense Minister Yoav Gallant from his post,” the statement said.
Gallant called for a halt to judicial reforms in a speech on Saturday night while Netanyahu was out of the country on an official visit to the UK. Some military reservists have pledged to withdraw from service against the plans, which critics say would undermine the independence of the judiciary. Gallant said moving forward with the proposals could jeopardize Israel’s security.
As protesters gathered into the early hours of Monday morning, three Israeli government ministers – all members of Netanyahu’s Likud party – proposed that Netanyahu stop judicial review legislation.
“When the house is on fire, you don’t ask who is right, you pour water and save its residents,” tweeted Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar. “If the Prime Minister decides to stop legislation to prevent the rift that has sprung up in the nation, we must support his position.”
And Economy Minister Nir Barkat, a former mayor of Jerusalem, suggested Netanyahu to “stop and recalculate” his recovery plan, warning that it had brought the country to the brink of civil war.
“Reform is necessary and we will carry it out – but not at the cost of civil war,” he said.
On Monday, Israel’s ex-Prime Minister Naftali Bennett urged Netanyahu to suspend planned judicial reforms and reverse the defense minister’s sacking.
“I urge the Prime Minister to withdraw Gallant’s letter of resignation, to suspend the resignation [judicial] reform and enter a pause in negotiations until after Independence Day,” Bennett said on his Twitter account.
The protests had thinned out in Tel Aviv around 2 a.m. local time. The CNN crew at the scene saw about half a dozen police cars speeding toward the protesters, and live footage from the scene showed security forces firing water cannons at protesters who were still assembled.
A police spokesman in the city told CNN police are preparing to disperse protesters from Ayalon southbound near the Hashalom interchange and are calling on protesters to leave the area and evacuate the road.
The comments of the now-fired Defense Minister Gallant, who is a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, angered Israel’s already finely balanced coalition government. It is unclear whether the plans can go ahead. An official in Netanyahu’s office said the prime minister had lost confidence in Gallant, adding that he had not clarified the comments beforehand, “thereby sabotaging efforts to find a solution”.
In his speech on Saturday, Gallant said the break was necessary “for the security of Israel,” citing the refusal of some Israel Defense Forces reservists to train in protest of the government’s plans.
Gallant reiterated that sentiment Sunday after his release in a tweet: “The security of the State of Israel has been and always will be my life’s mission.”
Israel’s former Prime Minister Yair Lapid described Gallant’s dismissal as a “new low”. He wrote on Twitter that Netanyahu might be able to fire the minister, but “cannot fire the people of Israel who are rebelling against the madness of the coalition.”
He added: “The Israeli Prime Minister is a threat to the security of the State of Israel.”
Former Israeli defense minister and opposition MP Benny Gantz tweeted, “We face a clear, imminent and palpable threat to Israel’s security,” before adding that the threat had intensified. “Tonight Netanyahu put politics and himself above security.”
Israel’s Consul General in New York, Asaf Zamir, resigned in response to Netanyahu’s decision to fire Gallant. In his resignation letter he posted on twitter, Calling Netanyahu’s move a “dangerous decision,” Zamir added that he was “increasingly concerned about the new government’s policies, and in particular the judicial reform it is leading.”
“I believe this reform undermines the very foundation of our democratic system and threatens the rule of law in our country,” he wrote.
Universities in Israel will go on strike starting Monday, they announced, and the country’s top trade union and business leaders said they would hold a press conference Monday morning. The Histadrut union said its press conference with business leaders scheduled for 11 a.m. (4 a.m. ET) would be dramatic.
Under the proposals, the government would have control over the appointment of judges and Parliament would be given the power to overrule Supreme Court decisions.
The government argues the changes are essential to reining in the Supreme Court, which they see as isolated, elitist and no longer representative of the Israeli people. Opponents say the plans threaten the very foundations of Israeli democracy.
The protests by the military reservists are of particular concern to the Israeli government, since they are regularly called up for training and service even in peacetime.
After his speech on Saturday, Israel’s right-wing National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir called on Netanyahu to fire Gallant. “Gallant has given in to blackmail and threats tonight from all those anarchists who call for resistance and take advantage of it [Israel Defense Forces] as a negotiating tool,” Gvir tweeted.
“Gallant was elected by the votes of right-wing voters and in practice promotes a left-wing agenda. In the moment of truth, he collapsed under pressure from the media and protesters. I urge the Prime Minister to sack him immediately.”
To put further pressure on Netanyahu, Israel’s Supreme Court on Sunday gave him a week to respond to a petition calling for him to be held for contempt of court.
The movement for quality government in Israel’s legal move comes after Attorney General Netanyahu said he acted illegally and violated a court-imposed conflict of interest order by saying he would personally participate in the judicial overhaul.
Part of the bill – which effectively removes the courts’ power to declare a prime minister incapacitated – has already been pushed through.
Critics say Netanyahu is pushing through the changes because of his own ongoing corruption process; Netanyahu denies this.
Netanyahu himself has given no indication that he will back down. In a speech on Thursday, he said he would address concerns “on both sides” but pledged to go ahead with reform plans.
Likud MP Danny Danon said it was too early to know if there were enough rebels in the party to stop the legislation, telling CNN “we won’t know until Monday” when Meet members of the party in the Knesset or in Parliament.
Netanyahu and his allies control 64 seats in the 120-seat legislature, so in theory five Likud rebels could wrest an outright majority from the coalition. But lawmakers can abstain or be absent, reducing the number of votes a law needs to pass.