Soon after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sacked defence minister Yoav Gallant for opposing the former’s controversial reforms that overhaul the judicial system, Israel’s embassy in India called for a protest against their PM.
In a statement released on Monday evening, the embassy said, “The Histadrut, Israel’s largest labour union, instructed all government employees to go on strike, including Israel’s diplomatic missions around the world. The embassy of Israel will be closed today until further notice and no consular services will be provided.”
All officials of the Israeli embassy in India and around the world will participate in the protest.
Earlier, Israeli president Isaac Herzog appealed to PM Netanyahu to put an end to this, warning that the move has put the country’s security, economy and society under threat.
He also called on the government to put aside political considerations for the sake of the nation.
Netanyahu’s new ultra-religious and ultra-nationalist government voted in favour of a bill that would allow the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) to cancel Supreme Court rulings with a simple majority vote.
The country has witnessed massive protests for over two months. They accused PM Netanyahu of his far-right extremist views, including racism and trying to establish a dictatorship.
Why are Israelis protesting against judicial reforms?
Netanyahu was elected in November 2022 as the Prime Minister for the sixth time. His cabinet is considered the most extreme, nationalistic, and exclusionary government in Israel’s history.
From the beginning, the Israeli government sought to make significant changes to the Supreme Court that would remove its independence and power to control the Parliament.
Several proposed plans would limit the court’s ability to overturn laws it deems unconstitutional, allowing a simple majority of the Knesset to overturn its decisions. It also gives state lawmakers and appointees effective power over the nine-person committee that appoints judges and removes key officials from the attorney general. These and other changes undermine the power of an independent judiciary in an otherwise unchecked parliamentary system.
The issue has created significant rifts in Israeli society prompting even reservists, the backbone of the Israeli army, to threaten to withdraw from service.
