Benyamin Netanyahu takes a step towards the demonstrators and plays the appeasement card. In the aftermath of a historic demonstration in Tel Aviv, the Israeli Prime Minister announced a “pause” in the process of passing the justice reform, which is being considered in Parliament, and contested in the streets for nearly of three months.
In an address to the nation, after political consultations with some partners in the ruling coalition, Benyamin Netanyahu assured that the final adoption of the various reform bills was postponed until the next parliamentary session to open after the Passover celebrations – which run from April 5 to 13 -, thus yielding in part to the demands of opponents.
In the process, the Histadrut, the first Israeli trade union center, announced the end of the general strike declared Monday this morning to stop the reform of justice. “Following the Prime Minister’s announcement, I am announcing the end of the strike…announced this morning,” Histadrut leader Arnon Bar David said in a statement.
“I welcome [Benyamin Netanyahu’s decision]. Better late than never,” reacted Benny Gantz (center-right), one of the main opposition figures, announcing that he was ready to go “immediately” and “with an outstretched hand” to discussions under the aegis of the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, who has so far tried in vain to mediate between supporters and opponents of the reform.
“When there is a possibility of preventing a civil war through dialogue, as prime minister I pause for dialogue,” Binyamin Netanyahu said in a televised address. “I give a real chance to a real dialogue [as a sign] of my will to prevent the division of the people. I have decided to pause [legislative work on the reform] during this parliamentary session in order to reach a broad agreement on the legislation during the next “session to open after the Jewish Passover holidays (5 April 13).
The tension was further escalated on Sunday after Binyamin Netanyahu announced the dismissal of his Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, who had spoken publicly the day before for a “pause” in the reform in order to promote a dialogue with the opposition with a view to arriving at a more consensual text. Thousands of Israelis then spontaneously took to the streets in Tel Aviv, giving rise to clashes with the police during the night. After these incidents, President Isaac Herzog, who plays a mainly ceremonial role, called on the government to “immediately stop” the consideration of the reform in Parliament.
Monday again, a crowd, estimated at 80,000 demonstrators according to Israeli media, gathered around the Parliament in Jerusalem to protest against the reform. In the evening, a counter-demonstration, the first of its kind, was held not far from there, in front of the Supreme Court, bringing together several thousand people, according to an AFP journalist.