Israel’s defense minister became the first ally in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition to break ranks on Saturday as he called for an immediate halt to the far-right government’s contentious plan to overhaul the country’s judiciary. Know more:
JERUSALEM—Israel’s defense minister became the first ally in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition to break ranks on Saturday as he called for an immediate halt to the far-right government’s contentious plan to overhaul the country’s judiciary.
The government’s plan to increase its control over the judiciary has sparked the largest protest movement in Israeli history and triggered a grave national crisis, including even warnings from the president of civil war. The judicial proposal has drawn intensifying criticism from across Israeli society—including from former prime ministers and defense officials, high-tech business leaders, Israel’s attorney general and American Jews.
In security-minded Israel, the unrest has prompted concern about the Israeli military’s stability as it maintains its 55-year-old occupation of the West Bank and faces threats from Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group and from its archenemy Iran. Gallant stopped short of saying what, if anything, he would do if Netanyahu ignored his plea. But his strong statement of concern for the polarized nation marked the first crack in Netanyahu’s coalition, the most right wing and religiously conservative government in Israeli history.
Israel’s attorney general issued a sharp rebuke on Friday, warning that Netanyahu had broken the law by announcing his direct involvement in the overhaul while facing criminal charges—a stern statement that raised the specter of a constitutional crisis.
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