Protests grip Israel after defence minister is sacked
Dismissal of Galant by Netanyahu leads to unrest on streets and splits in Likud
HUNDREDS of Israelis broke past a security barrier near Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem last night as tensions reached boiling point over the prime minister’s legal reforms.
As tens of thousands demonstrated in Tel Aviv, video footage showed some protesters in Jerusalem surging past a security barrier as they marched on the residence in Gaza Street.
Police responded by spraying them with water cannons and many of the protesters had moved on to the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, by the early hours of this morning.
In Tel Aviv, tens of thousands took to the streets calling for Mr Netanyahu to step down, blocking major highways and lighting bonfires in the streets.
Similar protests unfolded across Israel last night, amid unconfirmed reports that some police officers in a suburb near Tel Aviv had joined with the demonstrators.
The massive, spontaneous protests were triggered by Mr Netanyahu refusing to abandon his controversial legal reforms and sacking his defence minister, Yoav Galant, after he criticised the proposed overhaul.
Critics of Mr Netanyahu’s reforms say they will turn the country into a “dictatorship” by weakening the Supreme Court and ramping up the government’s influence over the appointment of judges.
Opponents also say Mr Netanyahu’s attempts to overhaul the legal system are part of a wider attempt to scrap his ongoing trial on fraud and corruption charges that he strongly denies. Hundreds of Israeli reservists have refused to report for duty in protest at the reforms, which is said to have raised fears in the defence establishment that national security is being threatened.
“The growing social rift has made its way into the [army] and security agencies. It is a clear, immediate and tangible threat to Israel’s security,” said Mr Galant, a member of Netanyahu’s own Right-wing Likud party.
“I am committed to Likud values... and placing the State of Israel above all... but major changes on the national level must be made through dialogue,” he said.
Mr Netanyahu reacted by sacking Mr Gallant.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid said that Mr Gallant’s dismissal “harms national security and ignores warnings of all defence officials”. Separately, Israel’s consul general in New York, Assaf Zamir, resigned in protest at the sacking.
Later last night there were reports in Israeli media that Mr Netanyahu was holding consultations on whether to pause the reform package until May.
In a sign of growing divisions in his party, Mr Netanyahu’s Likud ally and sports minister Miki Zohar, last night told the broadcaster Channel 12 that the reforms should be paused “to allow things to calm down”.
The wave of unrest comes during an already tense time in Israel because of the convergence of Passover and Ramadan in April, which raises the risk of clashes between Jews and Arabs in Jerusalem.
Israel is also in the grip of a major security crisis as it continues to carry out raids on Palestinian militant groups in the northern West Bank, which have led to a spate of revenge attacks on Israeli civilians.