Israeli Govt in Chaos as Judicial Reform Plans Draw Mass Protests

Israeli police use a water cannon to disperse demonstrators blocking a highway during a protest against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to overhaul the judicial system in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, March 27, 2023. (AP)
Israeli police use a water cannon to disperse demonstrators blocking a highway during a protest against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to overhaul the judicial system in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, March 27, 2023. (AP)
TT
20

Israeli Govt in Chaos as Judicial Reform Plans Draw Mass Protests

Israeli police use a water cannon to disperse demonstrators blocking a highway during a protest against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to overhaul the judicial system in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, March 27, 2023. (AP)
Israeli police use a water cannon to disperse demonstrators blocking a highway during a protest against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to overhaul the judicial system in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, March 27, 2023. (AP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition plunged into chaos on Monday, after mass overnight protests over the sacking of his defense chief piled pressure on the government to halt its bitterly contested plans to overhaul the judiciary.

Netanyahu had been expected to make a televised statement on Monday morning announcing the plans, which he says are needed to restore balance to the system of government and which critics see as a threat to democracy, had been suspended.

Amid reports that his nationalist-religious coalition risked breaking apart, the statement was postponed while Netanyahu met heads of the parties.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of protesters returned to the streets in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, many waving the blue and white Israeli flags that have been become an emblem of the protests.

Earlier, a source in his Likud party and another source closely involved in the legislation said Netanyahu would suspend the overhaul, which has ignited some of the biggest street demonstrations in Israel's history and drew an intervention by the head of state.

"For the sake of the unity of the people of Israel, for the sake of responsibility, I call on you to stop the legislative process immediately," President Isaac Herzog said on Twitter.

The warning by Herzog, who is supposed to stand above politics and whose function is largely ceremonial, underlined the alarm caused by the proposals, which would tighten political control over judicial appointments and allow parliament to overrule the Supreme Court.

It followed a dramatic night of protests in cities across Israel, with hundreds of thousands flooding streets following Netanyahu's announcement that he had dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for opposing the plans.

A day earlier, Gallant had made a televised appeal for the government to halt its flagship overhaul of the judicial system, warning that the deep split it had opened up in Israeli society was affecting the military and threatening national security.

With the army reinforcing units in the occupied West Bank after a year of unrelenting violence that has killed more than 250 Palestinian gunmen and civilians and more than 40 Israelis, the removal of the defense minister fed accusations that the government was sacrificing the national interest for its own.

No confidence motion defeated

During furious scenes in the Knesset early on Monday, opposition members of parliament attacked Simcha Rothman, the committee chairman who has shepherded the bill, with cries of "Shame! Shame!" and accusations comparing the bill to militant groups that want the destruction of Israel.

"This is a hostile takeover of the State of Israel. No need for Hamas, no need for Hezbollah," one lawmaker was heard saying to Rothman as the constitution committee approved a key bill to go forward for ratification.

"The law is balanced and good for Israel," Rothman said.

While the drama unfolded, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich presented the 2023-24 budget to parliament for a preliminary vote later in the day.

An opposition no confidence motion was defeated but in a sign of the tensions within the ruling coalition, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who heads one of the hardline pro-settler parties, called for the overhaul to go ahead.

"We must not stop the judiciary reform and must not surrender to anarchy," he tweeted.

General strike call

The shekel, which has seen big swings over recent weeks as the political turbulence has played out, fell 0.7% in early trading before recovering ground as expectations grew the legislation would be halted.

By late morning, shares in Tel Aviv were up around 2% and the shekel had risen around 0.8%.

As opposition spread, the head of the Histadrut labor union called for a general strike if the proposals were not halted.

Take-offs from Ben Gurion airport were suspended, while Israel's main seaports and hospitals and medical services were set to strike. Branches of McDonalds were also closed as the protests extended across the economy.

"Bring back the country's sanity. If you don't announce in a news conference today that you changed your mind, we will go on strike," Histadrut chairman, Arnon Bar-David said.

The judicial overhaul, which would give the executive control over naming judges to the Supreme Court and allow the government to override court rulings on the basis of a simple parliamentary majority, has drawn mass protests for weeks.

While the government says the overhaul is needed to rein in activist judges and set a proper balance between the elected government and the judiciary, opponents see it as an undermining of legal checks and balances and a threat to Israel's democracy.

Netanyahu, on trial on corruption charges that he denies, has so far vowed to continue with the project.

As well as drawing opposition from the business establishment, the project has caused alarm among Israel's allies. The United States said it was deeply concerned by Sunday's events and saw an urgent need for compromise, while repeating calls to safeguard democratic values.



Congregation Flees after Arsonist Sets Fire to an Australian Synagogue Door

05 July 2025, Australia, Melbourne: Damage is seen on the exterior of the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation in Melbourne. Photo: James Ross/AAP/dpa
05 July 2025, Australia, Melbourne: Damage is seen on the exterior of the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation in Melbourne. Photo: James Ross/AAP/dpa
TT
20

Congregation Flees after Arsonist Sets Fire to an Australian Synagogue Door

05 July 2025, Australia, Melbourne: Damage is seen on the exterior of the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation in Melbourne. Photo: James Ross/AAP/dpa
05 July 2025, Australia, Melbourne: Damage is seen on the exterior of the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation in Melbourne. Photo: James Ross/AAP/dpa

An arsonist set fire to the door of a Melbourne synagogue and forced the congregation to flee on Friday, seven months after criminals destroyed a synagogue in the same Australian city with an accelerant-fueled blaze that left a worshipper injured.

A man doused the double front doors of the downtown East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation and set it alight around 8 p.m., a police statement said on Saturday. Around 20 worshippers sharing a meal to mark the Shabbat Jewish day of rest evacuated through a rear door and no one was injured, police said.

Fire fighters extinguished the blaze which was contained to the front entrance, police said.

Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan said both incidents were designed to “traumatize Jewish families.”

“Any attack on a place of worship is an act of hate, and any attack on a Jewish place of worship is an act of antisemitism,” she said in a statement.

Antisemitic attacks roil Australia since 2023 A wave of antisemitic attacks has roiled Australia since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas assault on Israel triggered the war in Gaza.

Jewish and Muslim organizations and hate researchers have recorded drastic spikes in hate-fueled incidents on both groups. The Australian government last year appointed special envoys to combat antisemitism and Islamophobia in the community.

Last December, two masked men struck the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne’s southeast. They caused extensive damage by spreading a liquid accelerant with brooms throughout the building before igniting it. A worshipper sustained minor burns.

No charges have been laid for that attack, which Prime Minister Anthony Albanese blamed on antisemitism.

The Victorian Joint Counter-Terrorism Team, which includes Victoria state police, federal police and Australia’s main domestic spy agency, said the fire was likely a politically-motivated attack.

Police say synagogue attack is a serious crime

Acting Victoria Police Commander Zorka Dunstan described the latest synagogue fire as a serious crime. Police released a CCTV image of a suspect.

“I’d like to make it very clear that we do recognize that these crimes are disgusting and abhorrent. But at this stage, we are not declaring this a terrorist incident,” Dunstan told reporters.

“In the course of our investigation, we will examine the intent and the ideology of the persons involved, or person, to determine if this is in fact terrorism. At the moment, we are categorizing it as a serious criminal incident and responding accordingly,” she added.

A terrorism declaration opens the investigation to more resourcing and can result in charges that carry longer prison sentences.

The synagogue’s president, Danny Segal, called for the wider Australian community to stand with his congregation.

“We’re here to be in peace, you know, we’re here for everybody to live together and we’ve got a fresh start in Australia, such a beautiful country, and what they're doing is just not fair and not right, and as Australians, we should stand up and everybody should stand up,” Segal told reporters.

Protesters harass diners in Israeli-owned restaurant

Also in downtown Melbourne on Friday night, around 20 masked protesters harassed diners in an Israeli-owned restaurant. A Miznon restaurant window was broken. A 28-year-old woman was arrested for hindering police.

Anti-Defamation Commission chair Dvir Abramovich, a leading opponent of antisemitism in Australia, said diners were terrorized as the group chanted “Death to the IDF,” referring to the Israeli army.

“Melbourne, for one night, stopped being a safe place for Jews,” Abramovich said.

Melbourne Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece condemned both the synagogue and restaurant incidents.

“These criminal acts against a Melbourne synagogue and an Israeli business are absolutely shocking,” Reece said. “All of us as a community need to stand up against it.”

Israel’s deputy foreign minister condemned the attacks, saying it was “yet another reminder of how far racist, antisemitic hate crimes have spread in the heart of Australia,” in a statement on X.

Sharren Haskel expressed her full solidarity with the Jewish community in Melbourne, “Israel stands with you,” she said in the statement.