The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, announced on Monday that he is temporarily paralyzing the processing of the controversial judicial reform to try to reach a consensus with the opposition, in the face of the broad social response that has given rise to the largest protests in the history of Israel.
“Out of national responsibility, based on the desire to avoid a rift in our people, I decided to suspend the second and third reading of the law (for the election of judges) in this parliamentary session to give time to try to reach a broad agreement, in preparation for legislation during the next session,” declared the prime minister, although Don’t completely abandon the project.
The Knesset (Israeli Parliament) will go into recess for the entire month of April, for Passover, and the government gave itself until the summer break in July to make the necessary adjustments to the reform, seen by the opposition and broad social sectors as a threat to democracy because it undermines the independence of Justice.
The prime minister held all-day meetings Monday with his coalition partners, with which it agreed to delay the processing of the laws that make up the judicial reform until after the parliamentary recess, including the bill for the election of judges -which gives the Government almost total control over the selection committee- whose final approval was scheduled for this same week.
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“When it is possible to prevent a fratricidal war with negotiations, I, as prime minister, take time to negotiate. I give an opportunity for a real discussion,” Netanyahu said in a long-awaited televised intervention, which had been announced hours before before the massive protests throughout the country, and even the call for a general strike.
However, the prime minister insisted on the need to undertake a comprehensive reform of the judicial system, although for the first time in three months he was willing to negotiate with the opposition without imposing the government’s plan on Parliament.
“We insist on the need to make the necessary corrections in the legal system, and we will give the opportunity to achieve a broad consensus,” said the prime minister, who has three open trials for corruption.
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When it is possible to prevent a fratricidal war with negotiations, I, as Prime Minister, take time to negotiate.
Netanyahu fired his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, on Sunday night. after he publicly spoke out in favor of halting the reform in the face of the broad social protest that it has provoked, which even led thousands of reservists to refuse to serve, which in his opinion posed a “real and imminent danger to the security of Israel”.
In response, a record more than 650,000 Israelis took to the streets across the country, mostly in Tel Aviv, on Sunday in impromptu protests that were quickly called for on social media, after thirteen consecutive weeks of demonstrations since the announcement of the reform.
The social response continued this Monday, with a call for a general strike by the General Union of Workers, the main union in Israel, which was followed by universities, banks, the electricity company, restaurant chains such as McDonalds, municipalities and hospitals.
In addition, workers at Ben Gurion International Airport managed to suspend flight take-offs for several hours, and traffic at the port of Ashod has also been slowed down; while the protesters returned to the streets.
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More than 100,000 protesters gathered again this Monday in front of the Knesset in Jerusalem to call for an end to judicial reform, while a pro-government counter-demonstration, organized by far-right groups, quickly convened in the same area, with thousands in attendance, including Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
However, the anti-reform groups have already announced that they will not be satisfied with the delay in the processing of the reform announced by Netanyahu, but will continue with their protests until that legislation is canceled and a new reform agreed upon with the opposition is proposed.
EFE
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