Israel protests intensify after Netanyahu sacks defence minister

Protests flared across Israel on Sunday night after prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu sacked his defence minister Yoav Gallant for calling for a halt to a contentious judicial overhaul, warning that it was a threat to national security.

The fight over the proposals, which would significantly weaken the powers of the judiciary, has plunged Israel into an escalating political crisis, unsettling investors, alarming its allies, and sparking the biggest wave of protests for more than a decade.

Further demonstrations erupted after the news of Gallant’s dismissal broke on Sunday, with thousands of Israelis blocking the main highway in Tel Aviv, and others clashing with police outside Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem. Israeli media reported that protests were taking place in more than 150 locations.

As anger mounted, a group of universities announced that they would go on strike from Monday morning, and Israel’s consul-general in New York resigned in protest.

The outrage was met with differing reactions in the ruling coalition. One of the main architects of the judicial overhaul said work on part of it would continue on Monday. Three other ministers said they would back Netanyahu if he decided to pause the changes.

On Saturday, Gallant became the most senior figure in Netanyahu’s hardline government to call for a halt to the overhaul, warning that the polarisation it had caused was undermining the military. Thousands of reservists have threatened not to report for training in protest against the plans.

Barely 24 hours later, Netanyahu’s office said in a brief statement that he had decided to dismiss Gallant. Netanyahu subsequently wrote on Twitter: “We must stand firm in the face of anyone who refuses to serve”.

Gallant, a former officer in Israel’s military, said that the country’s security “has always been and will always be my life’s mission”.

Gallant’s decision to break ranks underscored the simmering tensions within the coalition over the proposed changes, which will give the government and its allies greater control over the appointment of judges, and limit the top court’s power to strike down laws.

Supporters say the changes are needed to rein in an activist judiciary that has pushed a partisan leftwing agenda. But critics see the overhaul as a fundamental threat to Israel’s checks and balances that will weaken minority protections, foster corruption and damage the economy.

Yair Lapid, head of Yesh Atid, the largest opposition grouping, branded Gallant’s dismissal a “new low” for a “government that harms national security and ignores the warning of all security officials”.

“Netanyahu can fire Gallant, but he cannot fire reality and cannot fire the people of Israel who are standing up to the insanity of the coalition,” he wrote on Twitter.

His criticism was echoed by other opposition parties, as well as former security officials. Eitan Ben-Eliyahu, the former head of the air force, said that Netanyahu had “declared civil war”. Asaf Zamir, the consul in New York, said as he announced his resignation that the government’s overhaul “undermines the very foundation of our democratic system”.

The Biden administration said it is “deeply concerned” by the events in Israel, which highlight the urgent need for compromise, said National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson.

“We continue to strongly urge Israeli leaders to find a compromise as soon as possible. We believe that is the best path forward for Israel and all of its citizens,” she said.

However, hardliners in Netanyahu’s coalition celebrated. Itamar Ben-Gvir, the ultranationalist national security minister, who had called for Gallant to be dismissed after his statement on Saturday, congratulated Netanyahu.

“Whoever capitulates to the military objectors cannot remain at his post even for one moment,” Ben-Gvir said.

Netanyahu said on Thursday that the government would press ahead with the overhaul, and bring the amendment that gives it greater control over judicial appointments to parliament for a final vote this week.

But in a sign of mounting unease in the coalition, the ministers for the economy, the diaspora and for culture all said in the early hours of Monday that they would support Netanyahu if he decided to delay the overhaul.

“The reform is necessary and we will carry it out,” economy minister Nir Barkat said in a statement. “But not at the price of civil war.”

additional reporting by Felicia Schwartz in Washington