TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired his defense minister 24 hours after the aide made a dramatic speech saying a contentious plan to reduce the power of the Supreme Court is a threat to national security and should be halted.
A statement from the prime minister’s office late on Sunday said he had dismissed Yoav Gallant, a move that had been rumored after Gallant defied the premier by taking to the airwaves and calling for a long pause to the legislation and a dialogue on a way forward.
Immediately after the dismissal, protesters apparently numbering in the thousands gathered near the defense ministry in Tel Aviv to demonstrate in support of Gallant and against Netanyahu. They spilled out into the road waving Israeli flags and blocking traffic.
The legislation, which has for weeks prompted massive demonstrations by opponents and divided Israeli society, is split up into a series of bills. Two key members of Netanyahu’s Likud party said that while a pause might be preferable, they plan to support the latest bill when it comes up for a vote that’s expected to pass this week.
The law will give politicians a dominant role in selecting judges, including high-court justices, a change from the current system where sitting justices and members of the legal profession hold sway.
The bill’s proponents say that in nearly every democracy, winners of elections get to select judges, and they are bringing Israel in line with that practice. Its opponents — and they include hundreds of thousands of weekly street demonstrators as well as business, professional and military leaders — say it will concentrate too much power in the hands of the ruling party, damaging democracy.
Many of Israel’s allies, including the U.S., U.K., Germany and France, have expressed similar concerns, saying that a fully independent and strong judiciary is vital to a functioning democracy. Israeli markets and its currency have been shaken by the controversy.
Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter was reported at first to support Gallant in calling for a delay. But he issued a statement on Sunday saying, “I am still in favor. The judicial reform is necessary and it will be carried out.”
A former head of the Shin Bet internal security service, Dichter could be asked by Netanyahu to replace Gallant, according to Israeli media reports.
Netanyahu was in London when Gallant took his defiant stance. On Thursday, Gallant was about to make a speech when Netanyahu called him to his office and persuaded him not to. Then Netanyahu gave a speech saying he was moving ahead with key portions of the bill but promised to protect individual and minority rights.
Another Likud lawmaker, Eli Dallal, who previously urged a freeze, also said on Sunday that he’d vote with his party to move the legislation forward, according to Channel 12 news.
Two Likud members, Yuli Edelstein and David Bitan, tweeted their support for Gallant on Saturday night. More parliamentarians will have to side with them to prevent the legislation from passing as planned.
Netanyahu has formed the most right-wing and religious government in Israel’s history. His coalition partners have long complained that the Supreme Court stands in the way of favored steps, including easy expansion of West Bank settlements, detention of migrants seeking refuge and excusing ultra-Orthodox men from military service to pursue religious studies.
A senior security official laid out on Sunday why Gallant felt the need to speak. An unraveling of Israeli unity is a true security risk, the official said, citing an increase in threats from Iran, radical Palestinian groups and Lebanon as well as a decrease in the US’s deterrent role in the region.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Israeli intelligence can hear its enemies crow about the internal rift.
“We are listening to them talk about it,” the official said. “We need to make sure our standing and deterrence are not harmed.”
Another aspect that has alarmed Gallant is a growing movement among reservists to refuse duty call-ups as a means of protest. In his speech, he asked not only for the legislation to stop but for the protests and acts of refusal to end.
Yair Lapid, head of the opposition, condemned the firing of Gallant in the harshest terms, saying it was “a new low” from a government “that is undermining national security and ignoring the warnings of security officials.”
