Latest Israel updates: Netanyahu delays judicial overhaul plan

The unrest in Israel has also raised concerns among American Jewish organisations, which are traditionally among Israel’s strongest supporters in the US. In a joint statement, four major groups have welcomed the delay.

“As a next step, we encourage all Knesset factions, coalition and opposition alike, to use this time to build a consensus that includes the broad support of Israeli civil society,” said the statement, signed by the American Jewish Committee, the Conference of Presidents, the Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish Federations of North America.

Senior humanitarian law and policy consultant Itay Epshtain says that the price of the intra-Israeli compromise to delay the legislative overhaul by four weeks “will be paid by Palestinians”.

“#BenGvir is awarded a gendarmerie he can direct and deploy against Palestinian citizens of Israel and in occupied East Jerusalem,” Epshtain wrote on Twitter.

The price of intra-#Israeli comprise to delay (by 4 weeks) the legislative overhaul will be paid by #Palestinians. #BenGvir is awarded a gendarmerie he can direct and deploy against Palestinian citizens of Israel and in occupied East Jerusalem. pic.twitter.com/J0VZOeben7

— Itay Epshtain (@EpshtainItay) March 27, 2023

Israeli police have used stun grenades to disperse protesters on Kaplan Street in Tel Aviv, local media has said.

Haaretz quoted a woman, who identified herself as Anat, saying that she saw a man injured by one of the explosive devices, which are used to cause temporary disorientation.

“I saw a man lying, bleeding, who suddenly fell in front of me on the floor after a loud boom,” she said. “It was scary, I’ve been shaking, [this is] the first time I’ve seen something like this.”

Local media also reported the use of water cannons to disperse protests in Jerusalem.

Commenting on Netanyahu’s concession with National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, Palestinian politician Hanan Ashrawi has said on Twitter:

“This is a very familiar pattern in Israeli politics. Disagreements and disputes are resolved at the expense of the Palestinians, while the extreme racist forces extract substantive concessions in exchange for symbolic delays.”

Well said, Nour. This is a very familiar pattern in Israeli politics. Disagreements & disputes are resolved at the expense of the Palestinians, while the extreme racist forces extract substantive concessions in exchange for symbolic delays. https://t.co/2e6nsa86z8

— Hanan Ashrawi (@DrHananAshrawi) March 27, 2023

Former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who was fired on Sunday after speaking out against the planned judicial overhaul, has welcomed Netanyahu’s announcement.

“I welcome the decision to stop the legislation in favour of negotiations,” he said in a brief statement on Twitter.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets shortly after Gallant was sacked.

Political analyst Nour Odeh says Netanyahu is “throwing Palestinians to the wolves”, by allowing Ben-Gvir – who has been convicted for racist incitement against Arabs and support for “terrorism” – to form a militia in the occupied West Bank.

“Palestinian blood is all it took to protect ‘Israeli democracy.’ How telling,” Odeh wrote on Twitter.

Netanyahu reached a compromise to stay in power & defuse protests by throwing Palestinians to the wolves: allowing Ben Gvir, a convicted terrorist settler, to form a militia in the occupied West Bank. Palestinian blood is all it took to protect “Israeli democracy.” How telling. pic.twitter.com/lOOat55DgK

— Nour Odeh 🇵🇸 #NojusticeNopeace (@nour_odeh) March 27, 2023

Yonah Lieberman, co-founder of the American Jewish organisation If Not Now, has voiced concern over the new “militia” that has been granted to Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

“This militia will be used to crack down on Israeli protesters inside the green line and to terrorize Palestinians in East Jerusalem and the West Bank,” Lieberman wrote on Twitter.

“This is an opportunity for protest leaders to show that they care about democracy for all people — Israelis and Palestinians.”

This militia will be used to crack down on Israeli protesters inside the green line and to terrorize Palestinians in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

This is an opportunity for protest leaders to show that they care about democracy for all people — Israelis and Palestinians. https://t.co/ualy9iDai5

— Yonah Lieberman 🔥 (@YonahLieberman) March 27, 2023

Despite voicing concerns about the turmoil in Israeli politics, the United States has reaffirmed its commitment to Israel.

“We continue to support Israel’s security, and our commitment to Israel’s security and democracy continues to remain ironclad,” US Department of State spokesperson Vedant Patel said.

“And we work with our Israeli partners on a number of issues, including Prime Minister Netanyahu.”

Asked whether Washington remains confident in Netanyahu’s leadership capabilities, Patel said: “I have no different assessment to offer.”

The United States has vehemently denied claims by some Netanyahu supporters that Washington was funding anti-government protesters in Israel.

The Israeli prime minister’s son, Yair Netanyahu, had shared a tweet linking to an article from the far-right US news website Breitbart claiming that the US Department of State was funding a left-wing organisation that participated in the protests.

“Any notion that we are propping up or supporting these protests or the initiators of them is completely and demonstratively false,” State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said.

Patel confirmed that an Israeli organisation called the Movement for Quality Government in Israel (MQG) had received a US grant, but he said the funds started under the previous administration to back an educational programme in Jerusalem.

Right-wing protesters rallying in support of Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul have clashed with police in Tel Aviv, The Times of Israel has reported.

The demonstrators confronted local law enforcement during a counterprotest, throwing a smoke grenade and other objects, including flagpoles, at police officers and members of the media, the newspaper reported.

Netanyahu’s hard-right coalition partner, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, has said he agreed to delay the judicial overhaul in return for the creation of a national guard under his ministry.

It was not clear what changes the deal would entail in practice, as Ben-Gvir is already in charge of Israel’s police. Opponents fiercely criticised the move, saying it gave the security minister his own militia.

Al Jazeera’s Natasha Ghoneim, reporting from occupied East Jerusalem, said the prime minister agreed to the deal after Ben-Gvir threatened to resign if the reform was delayed.

“We are now hearing that Netanyahu gave him a concession,” Ghoneim said. The national guard will be under “Ben-Gvir’s purview” and will “be approved in a cabinet meeting on Sunday”, she noted.

Opposition leader Benny Gantz has said President Netanyahu’s decision was “better late than never”, but that he would not compromise on the “basics of democracy” in any dialogue on the judicial reform.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who had staged a rare intervention into politics earlier on Monday to plead with Netanyahu to halt his judicial overhaul for the sake of national unity, said stopping it was “the right thing to do”.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has said the United States welcomed Netanyahu’s announcement “as an opportunity to create additional time and space for compromise”.

“Compromise is precisely what we have been calling for,” Jean-Pierre said. “Democratic societies are strengthened by checks and balances, and fundamental changes to a democratic system should be pursued with the broadest possible base of popular support. So that is what we’re going to continue to call for.”

Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara has said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement was likely an attempt at buying time before pushing ahead with the planned judicial overhaul.

“He’s going to use the next few weeks to figure out how to get out of this mess that he’s created,” Bishara said.

Netanyahu “tried to appease his detractors by complimenting them for speaking their mind,” the analyst said, “while probably he’s fuming inside about the fact that there is such unprecedented opposition to a prime minister over a domestic issue within Israel.”

Israeli opposition parties have cautiously welcomed Netanyahu’s decision to delay his judicial reform package and said they would work to reach an agreement if the government was sincere.

Former centrist Prime Minister Yair Lapid said the opposition needed to be sure that Netanyahu was not indulging in “tricks or bluffing” and said they had “bad experience” in the past with him.

“On the other hand, if the government engages in a real and fair dialogue we can come out of this moment of crisis — stronger and more united — and we can turn this into a defining moment in our ability to live together,” he said in a statement.

Haggai Matar, executive director of +972 magazine, told Al Jazeera from Tel Aviv that when the unions and municipalities get involved in protesting, that is “a huge portion of this country that’s involved in this struggle.

“The question of whether or not they — who have only today joined the struggle — accept what Netanyahu is saying and take a step back and say, ‘Yes that’s ok with us, as long as the legislation is on freeze’, that gives the government more time,” Matar said.

“If they continue with their struggle, the government could fall.”

The United States remains concerned about the situation in Israel and President Joe Biden has shared his concerns about the proposed judicial overhaul directly with Netanyahu, the White House said.

White House spokesperson John Kirby declined to comment to reporters specifically on the delay to the controversial reform announced by the Israeli prime minister.

“We’re watching this as closely as we can,” he said. “We’ve been very clear privately, of course, with Israeli leaders as well as publicly about our concerns … over developments here in the last 48 hours and again, strongly urge Israeli leaders to compromise.”

Kirby noted that Israel had been invited to a US-organised Summit for Democracy later this week.

“All of that concern comes from … a place of respect and friendship and admiration for the Israeli people, for Israel as a country and for Israel’s democracy,” he added.

Responding to Netanyahu’s statement that the delay comes from a will to reach a broad consensus, Haggai Matar, executive director of +972 magazine, told Al Jazeera that “it looks like there’s a very low likelihood of there actually being a consensus.

“This is probably a delay tactic used by Netanyahu. The opposition and the protest movement have both said, time and time again, two things that need to serve as a foundation for negotiations,” Matar said.

“One is completely stopping, not just slightly delaying the legislation process and right now the legislation process is at a point where Netanyahu, if he wanted to, can revive it and within less than a day have it approved. That is what some people in the opposition say is like having a gun pointed to our temple and then saying ‘let’s negotiate’.

“The other thing is that President Isaac Herzog has laid down a road map to what an agreement could look like taking into consideration the needs of both sides. The opposition was very happy to accept that as a basis for negations with the coalition. Netanyahu and his entire coalition basically rejected that outright, so with both that kind of gun pointed at the temple and the refusal to accept the president’s road map, there seems very little to negotiate on.”

Israel’s main labour union has called off a nationwide strike after Netanyahu announced he would delay his judicial overhaul plan to the next parliamentary session.

“The strike that I announced this morning will end,” Arnon Bar-David, chairperson of the Histadrut labour federation, said.

He praised Netanyahu for the move and offered help devising a mutually agreed reform.

Netanyahu has said Israel was heading towards a “clash” as the country appeared increasingly divided.

“We will never accept a civil war,” he said, adding that he had issued a call for dialogue to resolve all disputes.

“Out of a sense of national responsibility, out of a will to prevent a rupture among our people, I have decided to pause the second and third readings of the bill,” he told the Knesset.

Despite nationwide protests, Netanyahu argued the people were on his side and insisted the judicial reforms must go ahead. “We need to have the reforms in the judiciary,” he said. “We will never surrender.”