Israel on fire after Netanyahu sacks minister over reform remark
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Loading... - Tania Blatov
- 27 Mar 2023
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Protesters hold an Israeli flag as they gather around a bonfire during an anti-government rally, Tel Aviv, Israel, March 27, 2023. (AFP Photo)
srael faced massive overnight protests as opposition against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to overhaul the judiciary faced mounting opposition Monday.
The growing resistance to the plan came hours after tens of thousands of people burst into the streets around the country in a spontaneous show of anger at Netanyahu’s decision to fire his defense minister after he called for a pause on the overhaul. They lit bonfires on Tel Aviv's main highway, closing the throughway and many others throughout the country for hours.
The growing movement plunged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition into chaos. Netanyahu had been expected to make a televised statement Monday morning announcing the plans, which he says are needed to restore balance to the system of government but that critics see as a threat to democracy, had been suspended.
Amid reports his nationalist-religious coalition risked breaking apart, the statement was postponed while Netanyahu met heads of the parties. Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who has been leading the process, said that as a member of the ruling Likud party he would respect whatever decision Netanyahu reached.
"A situation in which everyone does as they wish is liable to bring about the instant fall of the government and collapse of Likud," he said in a statement. "We must all strive to stabilize the government and coalition."
Tens of thousands of protesters returned to the streets in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, meanwhile, many waving the blue and white Israeli flags that have become an emblem of the protests. Read More…
