Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday announced a “pause” in the judicial reform project that is dividing the country after a day of heightened protests and the emergence of tensions within the majority.
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Two key opposition leaders have said they are ready to speak to the government, but within the framework of mediation proposed by President Isaac Herzog for several weeks, while warning the executive against any attempt at deception.
Shortly after Mr Netanyahu’s speech, the major trade union confederation Histadrut announced the end of the general strike it had declared that morning with the stated aim of halting reform.
In civil society, the organizers of the protest, which has established itself for weeks as one of the largest popular mobilization movements known to Israel, are much more cautious and are demanding that the demonstrations continue as long as the project is not “completely stopped”.
“This is not a victory at all, the fight must go on,” summed up a protester in Tel Aviv in the evening, Sharon Hefez, a 59-year-old writer who accused Mr Netanyahu of “lying”.
Netanyahu reiterated that he wanted to “give real dialogue a real chance” and announced that he had “decided to pause” in the legislative process “in order to reach a broad agreement” on post-Passover reform at the next parliamentary session (April 5-13) will be open.
“If the legislation really and completely stops, we are ready to start a real dialogue in the President’s residence,” opposition leader Yaïr Lapid (centre) reacted, but “we [devons] First make sure there are no tricks or bluffs”.
“hand outstretched”
“Better late than never,” said Benny Gantz (center right), another opposition tenor. “We will immediately report to the President’s residence with outstretched hand,” he added, urging Mr Netanyahu to “stop the threats” and send a team to Mr Herzog.
The latter welcomed the Prime Minister’s decision and called on the two hostile camps to preserve the country’s unity and to refrain from any form of violence.
Washington, a strong Israel ally who has repeatedly expressed concern about the reform project, welcomed a decision that “gives more time to find a compromise.”
Tens of thousands of Israelis have demonstrated every week since the reform project was announced in early January to denounce it and to shout down the government formed by Mr Netanyahu in December.
The pace of the protests has intensified since mid-March, and tensions rose further on Sunday following the announcement of the sacking of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who the day before publicly advocated a “pause” in reform and expressed concerns for Israel’s security had faced a large movement of reservists refusing to honor their military obligations.
Thousands of Israelis then took to the streets in Tel Aviv, which led to clashes with the security forces during the night. Following those incidents, Mr Herzog, who is essentially playing a ceremonial role, urged the government on Monday morning to “stop immediately” consideration of the reform in Parliament.
Also on Monday, tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrated in Tel Aviv and around the parliament building in Jerusalem to protest against the reform. In the evening, a counter-demonstration, the first of its kind, gathered several thousand people near the Supreme Court in Jerusalem.
“distract attention”
For the government of Mr Netanyahu, one of the most far-right in Israel’s history, the reform aims to rebalance powers by reducing the prerogatives of the Supreme Court, which the executive branch says is politicized, in favor of parliament.
On the contrary, the protesters believe that this could lead to an illiberal or authoritarian tendency.
The last few days have been mostly tense. Two MPs from Likud, Mr Netanyahu’s party, criticized the announcement of the defense minister’s sacking and backed Mr Gallant.
The party of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, a far-right figure who, according to the Israeli press, had threatened to leave the government if there was a pause in reforms, announced the conclusion of an agreement with Mr Netanyahu linked to the suspension of legislative work expanding its portfolio.
In a sign of the challenges still awaiting the country, physicist Shikhma Bressler, one of the organizers of the protest movement, declared on Twitter that he would “not take a word at face value” from Netanyahu.
“As long as the legislative work [sur la réforme] If it is not stopped completely, we will demonstrate in the streets,” assures one of the protest collectives, who denounced “a new attempt by Netanyahu to divert public attention in order to weaken the protest before the establishment of a dictatorship”.