Former defense minister Gallant surprised his own government by halting reform and holding talks with critics on Saturday night. So far he has been the first and only person within the government – Gallant, like Netanyahu, belongs to the Likud party – to have dared to come out of disguise. Gallant warned that national security could be seriously undermined. He pointed out, for example, that many reservists did not show up for duty in protest against the reform.
“Growing division seeps into military and defense institutions. This is a clear, imminent and real threat to Israel’s security,” Gallant said on television. He has previously expressed concern about this. Gallant said he supports judicial reform. However, this requires broad consensus.
Now he has been sacked, as the prime minister’s office announced on Sunday. Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gwir, who belongs to Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partner Ozma Jehudit, had already asked the head of government to dismiss Gallant. He said he “put himself out of right field”.
Voting possible on Monday
The focus of the planned conversion is a regulation that will allow Parliament to overrule the highest court decisions with a simple majority. It is also about the procedure for selecting judges. The government wants to increase its influence and limit the powers of the Supreme Court. She justified this with the accusation that the judges had interfered in politics.
The vote on the bill could take place as early as Monday. It is not yet clear how the government will vote. The coalition only has a four-seat majority in parliament. Critics accuse the government of wanting to restrict the independence of the judiciary. According to her, democracy is at stake.
Portal For months, Israelis have taken to the streets against Netanyahu’s judicial restructuring
Prime Minister’s Deposition Makes It More Difficult
On Thursday, Jerusalem’s parliament also passed a law that will make it much more difficult in the future to declare a prime minister incapacitated. This was the first legislative change to the plans. The law change that was passed is particularly controversial because it is considered tailored to Prime Minister Netanyahu and his needs. A corruption case against the 73-year-old man has been running for a long time.
In the future, a prime minister could only be removed from office on mental health or other grounds. The aim is to prevent the Supreme Court or the Public Ministry from influencing matters. At the last reading, 61 out of 120 MEPs voted in favour. 47 deputies were against, the rest were absent or abstained. If the law is not stopped by the judiciary, a three-quarters majority would be required for impeachment in the future.
“Disruption Week” Announced
The planned judicial reform has triggered Israel’s worst domestic political crisis in years. Over the weekend, hundreds of thousands again demonstrated in various cities against the bill.
Even after Gallant’s dismissal, new protests quickly erupted. According to television reports, tens of thousands spontaneously gathered in Tel Aviv to protest the decision. They blocked the central road to Jerusalem. There, demonstrators broke through a roadblock next to the prime minister’s residence. However, it was unclear if the 73-year-old was in the house.
Organizers of the mass protests announced on Saturday that demonstrations would continue until reform plans were completely abandoned. They announced a “disruption week” with numerous protests.