Bibi’s backing off
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Monday that he will delay his coalition’s controversial judicial overhaul legislation until next month to “avoid a civil war.”
“When there’s an opportunity to avoid civil war through dialogue, I, as prime minister, am taking a timeout for dialogue,” he said during a nationally televised address Monday evening.
Following a raucous night of protests and a general nationwide strike, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said that Netanyahu agreed to a delay in the contentious piece of legislation until parliament reconvenes for its summer session on April 30.
Israel’s parliament will go on recess for Passover next week.
The extension would allow for a compromise to be made with the political opposition, Ben-Gvir said, noting if a deal isn’t reached, the plan would still move forward during the summer session.
Netanyahu acknowledged that he was hitting the pause button “to prevent a rift in the nation.”
Immediately after Netanyahu’s address, the head of Histadrut, Israel’s largest trade union, called off a general strike that had stopped everything from medical services to flights, schools and even McDonald’s restaurants.
Tens of thousands have taken to the streets in Tel Aviv, Beersheba, Haifa and Jerusalem for two days as they look to halt Netanyahu’s plan to overhaul the judiciary.
Some lit bonfires on Tel Aviv’s main highway, bringing traffic to a standstill, while other protesters were hosed down by water cannons. As the unrest escalated, protesters who gathered outside Netanyahu’s home broke through a security cordon.
The government claims the overhaul is essential to rein in activist judges and strike a balance between the elected government and the judiciary. However, opponents have called it a threat to democracy. Those against the plan worry it will endanger the indeSupreme pendence of the Court and limit judges’ powers.
The Israeli leader fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant after the milicalled tary boss for a pause on the overhaul — foreshadowing Netanintention yahu’s to move ahead with the overhaul plan by any means necessary.
Gallant had been the first senior member of the ruling Likud party to speak out against the plan. He expressed concern that the move could create “an internal rift that poses a clear and immediate threat for Israel’s national security.”
Nation shuttered
Israel has faced instability since the plan to weaken the Supreme Court was announced in January.
The chaos has deeply impacted the country, most of which has been shuttered for two days as a result of the general strike. Diplomats walked off the job at foreign missions. Israeli embassies and consulates in Washington and abroad shuttered as employees joined the strike. Army chief of staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said on Monday: “We have not known such days of external threats coalescing, while a storm is brewing at home.”
Netanyahu called on Twitter for both sides to avoid violence.