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Israeli president urges halt to judicial overhaul

March 28, 2023 00:00:00


Protesters gather with placards and national flags outside Israel's parliament in Jerusalem amid ongoing demonstrations on Monday — AFP

TEL AVIV, Mar 27 (Reuters): Israeli President Isaac Herzog urged the government on Monday to halt its bitterly contested judicial overhaul, a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sacked his defence minister for opposing the move, sparking mass street protests.

"For the sake of the unity of the people of Israel, for the sake of responsibility, I call on you to stop the legislative process immediately," Herzog said on Twitter.

The warning from the head of state who is supposed to stand above politics and whose function is largely ceremonial, underlined the alarm the divisions opened up by the proposals has caused. It followed a dramatic night of protests in cities across Israel, with tens of thousands pouring out on the streets following Netanyahu's announcement that he had dismissed Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

A day earlier, Gallant had made a televised appeal for the government to halt its flagship overhaul of the judicial system, warning that the deep split it had opened up in Israeli society was affecting the military and threatening national security.


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