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Tuesday 28 March 2023 - 02:12

The Zionist Regime in Chaos as ‘Judicial Reform’ Plans Draw Mass Protests

Story Code : 1049102
The Zionist Regime in Chaos as ‘Judicial Reform’ Plans Draw Mass Protests
Netanyahu had been expected to make a televised statement on Monday morning announcing the plans had been suspended. But, amid reports that his coalition risked breaking apart, ‘Israeli’ media announced the statement was postponed.

Earlier, a source in his Likud party and another source closely involved in the ‘legislation’ said Netanyahu would suspend the overhaul, which has ignited some of the Zionist entity’s biggest-ever demonstrations and drew an intervention by the regime’s ‘president.’

"For the sake of the unity of the people of ‘Israel’, for the sake of responsibility, I call on you to stop the legislative process immediately," President Isaac Herzog pleaded on Twitter.

The warning by Herzog, who is supposed to stand above politics and whose function is largely ceremonial, underlined the alarm that the divisions triggered by the proposals have caused.

It followed a dramatic night of protests in cities across the ‘Israeli’-occupied territories, with tens of thousands flooding streets following Netanyahu's announcement that he had dismissed War Minister Yoav Gallant.

A day earlier, Gallant had made a televised appeal for the government to halt its flagship overhaul of the ‘judicial system,’ warning that the deep split it had opened up in the Zionist society was affecting the military and threatening the entity’s security.

During furious scenes in the Knesset early on Monday, opposition Knesset [Zionist parliament] members attacked Simcha Rothman, the committee chairman who has shepherded the bill, with cries of "Shame! Shame!"

Three months after taking power, Gallant's removal has plunged Netanyahu's hard-right coalition into crisis as it also faces a deepening security emergency in the occupied West Bank.

In a sign of the tensions within the coalition, so-called ‘National Security’ Minister far-right extremist Itamar Ben-Gvir, called for the overhaul to go ahead.

"We must not stop the ‘judiciary reform’ and must not surrender to anarchy," he tweeted.

At the same time, the ‘Israeli’ currency, Shekel, which has seen big swings over recent weeks as the political turbulence has played out, fell 0.7% in early trading before recovering some ground as expectations grew the legislation would be halted.

As opposition spread, the head of the Histadrut labor union, Arnon Bar-David, called for a general strike if the proposals were not halted.

"If you don't announce in a news conference today that you changed your mind, we will go on strike."

The ‘judicial overhaul,’ which would give the executive more control over appointing judges to the ‘Supreme Court’ and allow the government to override court rulings on the basis of a simple parliamentary majority, has drawn mass protests for weeks.

While the government says the overhaul is needed to rein in activist judges and set a proper balance between the elected government and the ‘judiciary,’ opponents see it as an undermining of legal checks and balances and a threat to the ‘Israeli’ entity.

Netanyahu, on trial on corruption charges that he denies, has so far vowed to continue with the project and a central part of the overhaul package, a bill that would tighten political control over ‘judicial’ appointments, is due to be voted on in parliament this week.

As well as drawing opposition from the business establishment, the project has caused alarm among the Tel Aviv regime’s allies. The United States said it was deeply concerned by Sunday's events and saw an urgent need for compromise, while repeating calls to safeguard values.
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