Mass protests in Israel forced Netanyahu to delay judicial reform

Pressure is mounting around Benjamin Netanyahu, a veteran leader used to handling situations of maximum tension. After a day marked by a general strike and the streets taking over tens of thousands of protesters and protesters against the government, this monday in the middle of the afternoon, the prime minister agreed with his partners to postpone the approval of the controversial judicial reform plan for a month.

“For national responsibility” and “to allow time to try to reach a broad agreement,” he said in a brief message to the nation. Netanyahu is buying time, not backing down, a decision that helps him try to consolidate his executive power, but that won’t silence the streets.

After several hours of negotiations, the extreme right Itamar Ben Gvirparty leader Otzma Yehudit and the current minister of national security, reportedly agreed to delay the reform in exchange for the creation National Guard under his commandhas been one of his requests for months.

The media awaited Netanyahu’s announcement of this temporary suspension from the very beginning, but the only thing that came out of his mouth was a request to remain calm and remind Israelis that “we are all brothers.” The problem is that it’s been a long time not a leader who unites peoplebut he is the one who divided the earth into two parts.

In Israel, mass protests have been going on for weeks against the controversial reform by which the government intends to take control of the judiciary and the prime minister’s decision to dismiss the chief of defense. Yoav Gallant, because the demand to suspend the reform is the spark that ignited the streets on Sunday night. The president does not want dissenting voices and has acted harshly against one of the most sensitive departments in the country. More than 650,000 people protested in the capital cities, and in Tel Aviv they blocked one of the main highways for five hours.

The country woke up devastated by mass demonstrations and found an announcement general strike by the Histadrut, the main trade union. Departures were suspended at Tel Aviv International Airport, and universities, schools, shops and banks joined the indefinite strike. The stock exchange in Tel Aviv also closed its doors, as did all embassies abroad.

defense of democracy

The protesters are calling for “democracy”, as are Netanyahu’s ultra-nationalist associates, big proponents of judicial reform. Minister of Economy, extreme right Bezalel Smotrich, He asked his supporters to mobilize in Jerusalem because “we cannot give in to violence, lawlessness, refusal of necessity and wild strikes. We are the majority and they must listen to our voice. We will not let them steal our votes.”

deputy Limor Son of Har-Melech, from the far-right Jewish Power formation, stated that “stopping the law is a mistake and that it would be a gift to terrorism, it would be the same as saying ‘it’s worth being violent, it’s worth burning the earth‘”.

Radicals were among those who responded to the Minister of Economy’s call Family, ultras from the Beitar Jerusalem team, who invited their members to go out armed on the streets “explosives, knives and weapons”.

Extreme right-wing groups shared messages on the networks stating that Israel is in an “extraordinary situation” because they “want to steal our victory in the elections.” Instead of calling for calm, Minister Itamar Ben Gvir added fuel to the fire and asked his people to share a message on the networks that said “today we stop being silent, It is the day when the right wakes up”.

Army, divided

The military has fully entered into the political problems facing the country following the decision of a significant number of reservists to do not do military service, which is mandatory, lasts three years, and then the reserve term is extended until the age of 40. From now on, it’s voluntary, so those who don’t act can’t be punished.

Gallant warned before the shift that these reservists’ refusals pose a “real and concrete danger” to the country’s security, especially in the case of pilots. Important voices like the former army chief Dan Halutz they marked March 27 as “the day we succeeded in preventing Israel from becoming a dictatorship.” The current Chief of the Armed Forces, Herzi Halevishared a letter addressed to all active and reserve military forces to remind them that Israel “has never known such days of external threats combined with internal storm. This is a moment of responsibility.”