Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Sunday fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, sparking massive late-night protests, a day after Gallant became the first member of his cabinet to call for a halt to the plan. government’s controversial plan to weaken the economy. country’s judiciary.
Announced in a one-line statement by the prime minister’s office, the dismissal exacerbated an already serious domestic crisis — one of the most severe in Israel’s history — that had originated in Israel. from government proposals. better control on the selection of Supreme Court justices and the limitation of the court’s authority over Parliament.
Gallant’s dismissal sparked chaotic and spontaneous late-night protests in and around Tel Aviv, where protesters blocked a major highway and set fires on at least two roads, and in Jerusalem, where crowds broke through police barricades outside Mr. Netanyahu’s private residence.
The crisis has prompted one of Israel’s biggest ever protests, tensions with the Biden administration, military unrest — and now, after criticism. Gallant’s leadership and subsequently expelled from the government, caused rifts in the governing coalition.
Mr. Gallant was fired after he urges on Saturday night that the law was shelved, warning that it was causing turmoil in the military and therefore a threat to Israel’s security.
“The rift in our society is widening and penetrating the Israel Defense Forces,” Gallant said in a televised address. The divisions posed “a clear, immediate and tangible danger to the security of the state – I will not be involved in this,” he said.
His warning and dismissal came after a growing number of military reservists refused to fulfill their volunteer service in protest of a judicial overhaul. military leader warned that a decline in reservists, who form an important part of the air force’s pilots, could soon affect the military’s operational capacity.
Mr. Netanyahu did not give a full explanation for the decision to fire Mr. Gallant. But in informing Israeli news reporters, his office said Mr Gallant had not done enough to prevent reservists from refusing to serve, implying that Mr Gallant had contributed to the risks. security you warned about.
“We must all stand strong against denial,” Netanyahu said later on social media, without giving further details.
Mr. Netanyahu’s decision appears to be a clear signal that the government intends to hold a final vote in Parliament earlier this week on the first part of the proposed overhaul: a law that would award giving the government greater control over who sits on the Supreme Court.
Everything you need to know about Israel’s judicial overhaul
Gallant’s dismissal comes at a time when military threats are growing against Israel and has led opposition leaders and military experts to question whether Mr. security or not.
Within the Israel Defense Forces, morale was low amid anxiety over the move against the court. The political crisis comes against the backdrop of a growing Palestinian insurgency in the occupied West Bank; increased tensions with Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia; and fear an impending confrontation with Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the Gaza Strip.
Gallant’s dismissal also raises the possibility of more friction between Mr. Netanyahu and the Biden administration, which have increasingly voiced their reservations about the judicial plan.
Mr. Gallant, 64, was appointed less than three months ago, against competition from a more radical member of the coalition with much less military experience. His appointment has allayed concerns in Washington that Mr. Netanyahu could appoint a far-right lawmaker to oversee Israel’s powerful military, which receives substantial US aid and technical support.
A former naval commando, Mr Gallant has faced calls from former military colleagues to speak out against the judicial overhaul. In recent days, former navy commandos have staged protests outside his home to pressure him to resign. And reserve pilots texted him every time one decided to suspend service in protest of the court’s plan.
Responding to his dismissal on social media, Mr Gallant said: “The security of the State of Israel has always been and will always be my life’s mission.” There was no immediate announcement of his replacement.
His removal surprised opposition lawmakers and military analysts.
Yossi Yehoshua, a commentator on military affairs for Yediot Ahronot, a major centrist newspaper, said on social media that Gallant’s dismissal at such a perilous time for Israel is “a danger to the security of the state that could cost lives”.
“There is no other way to say it,” Mr. Yehoshua said.
Gideon Saar, an opposition lawmaker and former Netanyahu ally, said on social media the move was “an act of madness”.
“There is no precedent in Israeli history for a security minister to be fired because he warned, as required by his position, of a security threat,” he said. “Netanyahu is determined to push Israel into the abyss.”
Israel’s consul-general in New York, Asaf Zamir, a former opposition congressman, has resigned in protest over Gallant’s dismissal.
But in a tumultuous Parliament on Sunday, ruling lawmakers appeared to have more pressing concerns, racing to finalize the text of the proposed legislation as government leaders behind the scenes. scramble to make sure they have the votes to pass.
Netanyahu’s two moderate allies announced their support for the law on Sunday, quelling rumors that they were about to break ranks. But two other coalition members backed Mr Gallant’s call to halt the process. If a third followed suit, the government could lose its majority.
If enacted, the law would complete the first step of a plan to limit judicial authority that has caused widespread insecurity not only armyincluding investors, influential American Jews and Israel’s foreign allies.
Military reservists spoke out against the great monastery, citing a variety of concerns.
Some oppose weakening the judicial system in principle. But reservists say they also fear illegal military orders if the Supreme Court lacks the power to scrutinize government operations. And they fear being charged in international courts if Israel’s justice system is deemed too weak to prosecute soldiers.
Military leaders have said privately that they worry that full-time soldiers may also begin to resign. On Sunday, the army chief of staff, Herzi Halevi, ordered all commanders to talk to their subordinates about the need to remove politics from the military and maintain cohesion, the military official said.
But despite those warnings, coalition lawmakers on the Constitution, Law and Judiciary Committee, the body in Congress tasked with drafting legislation, used their majority in the vote. committee on Sunday to overcome hundreds of objections from opposition lawmakers.
Netanyahu’s government is determined to pass the law this week, before a month-long recess of Parliament.
That insistence led to chaos in the constitutional committee on Sunday, with the chairperson, Simcha Rothman, often allowing only a few seconds for committee members to consider each objection in number hundreds of objections before voting on them.
Mr. Rothman moved so quickly, and the meeting often became so noisy that it was often difficult for legislators to keep track of what was being discussed. Most of the opposition lawmakers on the committee were temporarily expelled by Mr Rothman, accused of disrupting the process.
“Can you act like a human for once?” Karine Elharrar, an opposition lawmaker, spoke to Mr Rothman in a particularly scathing exchange.
“I can learn from you how to behave like a human,” Mr. Rothman replied sarcastically.
Earlier, Ms. Elharrar told coalition lawmakers on the committee: “You are like the Minions,” referring to the mindless cartoon characters.
“You don’t even know what you’re voting for,” she said.
The government and supporters say the change is needed to make the court more representative of the diversity of Israeli society and give priority to elected lawmakers over judges. not elected.
Critics say the move would give the government too much power over the judiciary, remove one of the few checks for government misconduct and could lead to authoritarian rule.
The overhaul has come to represent much deeper social disagreements in Israeli society regarding the relationship between religion and the state, the future of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. closure and ethnic tensions among Israeli Jews.
Orthodox Jews and settlers say the courts have historically acted against their interests and have been dominated by secular judges for too long. Middle Eastern Jews also feel underrepresented in the court, which is mostly staffed by judges of European ancestry.
Gabby SobelmanRonen Bergman and Myra Noveck contribution report.
