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On Sunday, March 26, 2023, a prominent member of the Israeli Knesset from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party joined a call by the defense minister to suspend proposed amendments to the judicial system that have caused controversy and division and raised the prospect of shrinking the government’s parliamentary majority.
These divisions in the prime minister’s party and his government are exacerbating the pressure resulting from unprecedented mass protests that have been going on for months, organized by Israelis who believe that the amendment package endangers the independence of the courts and judiciary.
Netanyahu says that these amendments will achieve a balance between the ruling circles. Netanyahu is facing trial on corruption charges, which he denies.
A basic bill that would give his ruling coalition more control over the appointment of judges to the Knesset is due for ratification this week. Netanyahu and his allies hold 64 of the 120 Knesset seats.
But the presence of opposition from within Likud has cast doubt on whether this vote, for which a deadline has not yet been set, will take place in the first place.
Yesterday, Saturday, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who is also a Likud deputy, contradicted the party’s general position and publicly urged Netanyahu to suspend the passage of the legislation for a month, and said that the protests that took place across Israel against the amendments, and an increasing number of reservists joined them, affected the work of the regular forces and threatened National Security.
“I will not make it easy,” Gallant said in remarks broadcast on television, referring to the possibility that he would abstain from voting on the ratification of the bill if it took place this week.
Also on Sunday, Yuli Edelstein, a Likud lawmaker and chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, called for the suspension of the judicial amendments to allow for debate and review.
When asked during an interview whether he would abstain from voting or vote against the bill, he did not answer directly, but indicated that he will not attend sessions in the Knesset this month.
“I need to remind you that I did not attend the first readings of those bills when they in Likud did not listen to me and ignored my call for dialogue,” Edelstein told Israel’s Army Radio.
“We don’t want to completely abandon the amendments (but)… putting them to a vote before there is clear support for them would be a risk that is best avoided,” he added.
Senior Likud MK David Bitan welcomed Gallant’s remarks, and MK Eli Dallal spoke of his preference for suspending ratification of the legislation. However, it was not immediately clear if other Likud lawmakers would abstain from voting while the legislation was put forward for ratification.
Netanyahu returned early Sunday morning to Israel after completing a visit to London, but has not yet commented on the call by members of his party to suspend the amendments.
But Likud MP Tali Gottlieb, who supports the judicial amendments, seemed unfazed by these objections.
“We have 62 (they will vote yes), and even if someone doesn’t come, we will have 61. The vote will take place this week,” she told radio station 103 FM in Tel Aviv.
