Israel’s consul general in New York announced that he was leaving his post in protest at the dismissal of the defense minister. Israeli universities, on the other hand, started a strike.
26.3. 23:45•Updated 0:36
Tens of thousands of Israelis took to the streets on Sunday evening to protest the firing of the country’s defense minister. There have been extensive demonstrations in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa and near the Gaza border, among others.
Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired by the Minister of Defense by Yoav Gallant after he called for a month-long halt to progress on the controversial justice system reform. The legal reforms pushed by the government coalition led by Netanyahu would increase the power of politicians over the country’s judiciary.
Gallant, a party colleague of Netanyahu’s, had previously warned that widespread protests would endanger the country’s national security. Thousands of reservists have participated in the demonstrations.
In the TV images transmitted by the Reuters news agency, large crowds, among other things, blocked the Tel Aviv highway on Sunday.
In Jerusalem, on the other hand, on Sunday evening, the police used water cannons against protesters who tried to break up the barricades near Netanyahu’s apartment.
Israeli universities announced that they would start a strike and suspend all teaching and research, says Haaraz magazine (you switch to another service).
Consul General of Israel in New York Azaf Samir announced on Twitter late in the evening Finnish time that he was leaving his position due to the dismissal of the Minister of Defense.
– I can no longer continue to represent the government, he wrote and said that he intends to fight for Israeli democracy.
Former Prime Minister of Israel Naphtali Bennett called on Netanyahu to cancel Gallant’s dismissal and suspend the preparation of the controversial law reform. According to Bennett, Israel is in greater danger since the Yom Kippur War.
– It doesn’t matter who is right and who is wrong. I appeal to all protesters and Israeli citizens to avoid violence, Bennett said.
The news is updated.
Sources: Reuters, AFP, STT