A “crushing defeat”
Some analysts saw Netanyahu’s initiative primarily as a game to get out of trouble.
The prime minister “knew how to turn a crushing defeat into a draw with fine words,” wrote Nahum Bernea, an editorial writer for the daily Yediot Aharonot.
“No matter what he says or does, it seems to me that he doesn’t enjoy much trust, even among the thousands of right-wing protesters yesterday,” he added, referring to the first counter-demonstration called in Jerusalem on Monday by pro-reformists. .
The government reiterates that the reform aims to rebalance powers and give Parliament greater powers at the expense of the Supreme Court, which it says is politicised.
Instead, opponents claim that this reform compromises the independence of the judiciary and risks opening the door to an authoritarian and illiberal path.
No return
The crisis revealed deep divisions in Netanyahu’s shaky coalition.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Twitter on Monday that there will be “no turning back” on judicial reform.
And National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called on his supporters to demonstrate for the reforms.
Ben-Gvir’s Jewish power party announced on Monday that the decision to delay legislation includes an agreement to expand its portfolio after threatening to resign if the project is stopped.
Political journalist Yosi Verter wrote in the left-wing daily Haaretz that the pause “was a victory for the protesters, but the one who really broke down and trampled on (the prime minister) is Itamar Ben-Gvir”.
“Netanyahu came out of this story like a squeezed orange,” Verter said.
The crisis has hit the image of the coalition in the Israeli public three months after it came to power.
The Likud fell seven points in a Channel 12 poll that predicted the government would lose its majority in the 120-seat parliament if elections were held.