IN FOCUS: Week of chaos: Mass protests, general strikes and Netanyahu’s U-turn

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a U-turn on Monday night, announcing a halt to the judicial reforms. 

Here are the main points of the constitutional crisis in Israel:

• Although Netanyahu announced a halt to the reforms, he insisted that they will be implemented one way or another in the near future.
• President Isaac Herzog is currently conducting marathon meetings with representatives from the government and opposition parties in an attempt to reach a broad consensus on the reforms.
• Thousands of Israelis continue to protest the judicial reforms, saying they will not back down until they have been removed completely from the government’s agenda.
• Recently fired Yoav Gallant’s future is still uncertain, leaving Israel without a defence minister.
• National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir is expected to have a newly formed National Guard directly under his control in exchange for his support for a temporary halt to the reforms.

Chaos

Mass protests erupted on Sunday night and Monday morning following Netanyahu’s decision to fire Defence Minister Gallant for speaking out against the reforms.

This was followed by the Histadrut labour federation announcing a general strike. At the same time, Ben-Gurion airport came to a complete halt after workers went on a strike. Universities, malls, shops, and Israeli diplomats abroad, including the embassy in London, also joined the strike.

The unprecedented chaos unfolded as Netanyahu met with his Likud faction as well as other coalition partners. According to Israeli media, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir gave Netanyahu his support to halt the reforms in return for the creation of a national guard that would answer directly to him.

Earlier in the day, Ben-Gvir had threatened threatened to resign if the reforms were halted. At 8:00 PM Netanyahu finally delivered a speech to the nation, announcing a halt to the judicial overhaul in hope of reaching a broad consensus. The prime minister, however, promised that the reforms would the implemented in the near future.

Mass protests continued after Netanyahu’s speech on Monday, with some cheering the news and others accusing the prime minister of deceiving the public to buy time. Thousands of pro-government demonstrators also took to the streets in the thousands in both Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

The far-right, racist organisation “La Familia” joined the right-wing counter protesters, chasing and beating random Palestinians in East Jerusalem as well as two journalists from Channel 13 and KAN Public Broadcaster. The far-right activists also tried to attack the anti-reform protestors.

‘Dialogue’

Immediately after Netanyahu’s announcement, President Herzog welcomed the news, calling on representatives from the government and opposition parties to meet at his residence in Jerusalem for talks on the reforms.

The first discussions were held Tuesday night, between representatives from Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid parti, the National Unity Part, and the coalition. Herzog issued a statement after, saying the talks had been held in a “positive spirit.”

On Wednesday, Herzog met with representatives from the United Arab List, the Arab-Israeli faction Hadash-Ta’al and the Labour party.

The latter has, however, been skeptical of Netanyahu, with party leader Merav Michaeli saying: “We’ve said all along, we’ll only accept a full removal of the dangerous coup bills. Netanyahu is not removing them, he’s buying time at the expense of our democracy.”

The far-right parties in Netanyahu’s coalition have also refused to compromise over the reforms, insisting they be passed as is.

Security

With Israel currently not having a defence minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir is currently the most senior minister to be in charge of the nation’s security, other than the prime minister himself.

The opposition railed against Netanyahu’s decision to establish a National Guard that would fall directly under Ben-Gvir’s authority.

“The national guard must be under the police, rather than under the control of (far-right organisation) Lehava and the rest of the Kahanists,” Labour lawmaker Gilad Kariv said.

Former Israel Police chief Moshe Karadi warned that Ben Gvir would “recruit the Hilltop Youth” to his own “private militia” intended for his “political needs.”

Ben-Gvir responded to the criticism saying “Nobody will scare us.”

“The reform will pass. The national guard will be established. The budget that I demanded for the National Security Ministry will pass in full. Nobody will succeed in changing the decision of the people,” Ben-Gvir said.

Israel is heading into a highly sensitive period with the Muslim holiday of Ramadan and Passover colliding next week. The past couple of years have seen intense clashes during Ramadan between Palestinians and Israelis on the Temple Mount where the Al-Aqsa mosque is located.

Security officials have warned for weeks that the high tensions between Israelis and Palestinians could explode during Ramadan the proper security arrangements aren’t made.