Mass protest in Israel after Netanyahu sacks defense minister

Mass protests erupted all over Israel during the weekend after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sacked Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for questioning his judicial overhaul plan and publicly calling on the government to delay its overhaul.

Gallant—a senior member of Netanyahu’s hard-right Likud party—was one of the very first members to speak out against the plan that would give the coalition government the power over judicial appointments.

According to Gallant, the plan is “a clear and immediate and tangible danger to the security of the state,” and refused to support it.

Judicial reform
The plan, which will give the Israeli government the final say over the appointment of judges, would tear away the checks and balances in place in Israel, which is a cornerstone of every democracy.

Control over judges’ appointments is widely criticized as it also threatens the economy and national security.

One of the loudest voices of the protests are people in the start-up, technology and financial sectors. They lament that judicial reform will weaken Israel’s legal systems and, in turn, cause credit ratings to fall.

Lower credit ratings can dry up foreign investment, which per The Guardian covers nearly 90% of Israel’s tech sector funding.

The protests
Protests against Netanyahu’s judicial reform took a huge turn over the weekend with tens of thousands gathering, lighting bonfires and blocking highways in Tel Aviv. Many protests even gathered around Netanyahu’s private home in Jerusalem and had to be cleared by the police.

Although protests have been going on since February, the mass protests that erupted recently prompted Likud party members to wonder if they should pause the proposal. Culture Minister Micky Zohar said he would support Netanyahu if such a decision is made.