Protests against controversial judicial reform in Israel continue. The public took to the streets again after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who opposes judicial reform. The demonstrators, who went down to the streets with Israeli flags in their hands, closed the Ayalon Highway in the capital Tel Aviv and set fire to traffic.
Outside of Tel Aviv, a large number of people gathered outside Prime Minister Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem. Hundreds of people took to the streets in Beersheba in the south and Haifa in the north of the country. While the tension between the police and the demonstrators increased in places, the police intervened the demonstrators with pressurized water in some regions.
FIRST STATEMENT FROM GALLANT
“The security of the state of Israel has always been and will remain my life’s mission,” Gallant said in his first statement after his dismissal. Gallant recalled the widespread protests within the military against judicial reform and called for the suspension of controversial judicial reform, citing the danger to national security.
‘A DANGER TO THE STATE OF ISRAEL’
Opposition leader Yair Lapid reacted sharply to Gallant’s dismissal, saying, “Israeli Prime Minister is a danger to the state of Israel.”
‘DICTATTORS CHOOSE THE PATH’
Avigdor Liberman, leader of the Yisrael Beytenu Party (Israel is Our Home), Israel’s former Defense Minister, described Netanyahu’s dismissal of Gallant as “dictatorship” and said, “The Minister of Defense is concerned about the disintegration of the IDF and the deadly damage to Israel’s security. “He dared to express his deep concerns. Instead of listening to Gallant and convening the cabinet, Netanyahu chose the path of all dictators. To silence the voices.”
ISRAEL’S CONSUL GENERAL IN NEW YORK REsigns IN REACTION TO NETANYAHU
Asaf Zamir, Consul General of Israel in New York, said in a statement on his social media account, “I resign.” used the phrases.
On the other hand, Israeli media announced that universities in the country were on strike across the country until further notice.
RESPONSIBLE JUDICIAL REFORM
The controversial judicial reform, opposed by Israeli President Herzog and the United States and many other countries, includes limiting the powers of the Supreme Court, overriding court decisions by parliament, and reducing the judiciary’s influence over the selection of judges. Within the framework of the reform, “the draft law that makes it difficult to dismiss the prime minister” was adopted in the parliamentary vote in the past days.