Netanyahu expected to announce halt to plans to overhaul Israeli judiciary

 

Netanyahu expected to announce halt to plans to overhaul Israeli judiciary

 

Israeli prime minister likely to put controversial legislation on hold amid mass protests overnight

 

Bethan McKernan in Jerusalem

Mon 27 Mar 2023 08.26 BST

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/27/israel-netanyahu-judiciary-plans-halt

 

Israel’s embattled prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is expected to announce a halt to his far-right government’s proposal to overhaul the judiciary, after a decision to sack his defence minister for opposing the plans sparked mass protests across the country overnight.

 

Israeli media outlets, citing sources in Netanyahu’s Likud party, reported on Monday morning that in a televised address the prime minister was expected to announce a freeze to the bitterly contested legislation, which would limit the powers of the country’s supreme court.

 

Shortly before he was due to speak, Israeli television said the statement, originally announced for 10.30am (08.30am BST), would be delayed due to disarray in the governing coalition.

 

Netanyahu’s statement will follow one of the most dramatic nights in Israeli history, as tens of thousands of people took to the streets to protest against the firing of the defence minister, Yoav Galant, who became the first senior governing coalition official to made a public call to scrap the proposals on Sunday night.

 

President Isaac Herzog, writing on Twitter in the early hours of Monday morning, said: “For the sake of the unity of the people of Israel, for the sake of responsibility, I call on [Netanyahu] to stop the legislative process immediately.”

 

Supporters of the changes, introduced almost immediately after the new government entered office in December, say they are needed to better balance the branches of government and combat a perceived leftwing bias in the court’s rulings. Critics say they will give politicians too much power over the judiciary by allowing a simple majority in the Knesset to overrule almost all of the court’s decisions, and give politicians a decisive say on appointments to the bench.

 

It has also been pointed out the move could help Netanyahu evade prosecution in his corruption trial, in which he denies all charges.

 

The prime minister, taken aback by the scale of the protest movement against the proposals, including opposition from within the military and Israel’s vital hi-tech sector, has reportedly held talks with the opposition geared towards a compromise.

 

Until now, however, he appears to have been hostage to far-right coalition partners spearheading the plans, who have threatened to bring down the government if their demands are not met.

 

Strikes are expected on Monday, as well as another protest outside the Knesset building in Jerusalem at 2pm (12pm GMT).