Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing off a planned public address in which he is expected to announce the freezing of the government’s judicial overhaul, following pushback from Coalition allies.
Earlier on Monday, Channel 12 reported that Netanyahu had decided to pause the judicial reform, following the dismissal of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (Likud) and the mass demonstrations which subsequently broke out across the country Sunday night.
Now, however, the prime minister is delaying his address, after a contentious meeting with Coalition faction leaders.
According to a report by Kan, Justice Minister Yariv Levin (Likud), Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionist Party) and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir (Otzma Yehudit) all demanded the government move forward with the judicial overhaul.
Ben-Gvir reportedly clashed with Netanyahu, shouting at the prime minister during the meeting: “What is this? We can’t give up like this.”
The Religious Zionist Party issued a statement Monday morning insisting that the Coalition pass legislation altering the judicial appointments committee before the end of the Knesset’s current session.
“After much consideration and consultations, our position is that we must not do anything to stop the passage of the legislation.”
“Stopping the legislation would constitute a surrender to violence, anarchy, and to refusal in the army and to the dictatorship of the minority, and would undermine the results of the election.”
Meanwhile, the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, headed by chairman MK Simcha Rothman (Religious Zionist Party) on Monday approved the judicial appointments bill for its second and third readings in the Knesset plenum.