UPDATE – Israeli defense minister calls for halting judicial overhaul amid protests

UPDATES WITH DETAILS

JERUSALEM (AA) – Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Saturday called for halting government plans for judicial overhaul amid protests against the planned change.

Israel has seen mass protests in recent weeks over plans by the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for judicial reform, seen by the opposition as an attempt to reduce the powers of the judicial authority in favor of the executive authority.

“I have never encountered the intensity of anger and pain as I have seen now,” Gallant said in a televised speech.

“The rift in society penetrates into the army and this is an immediate and tangible danger to the security of the state. I will not give my hand to this,” he said.

“The legislative process must be stopped,” the defense minister stressed. “We need a change in the judiciary, but major changes must be done with dialogue.”

The defense minister also called on the Israeli opposition to halt army reservist strikes amid the protests against the judicial reform.

“The IDF [army] is a great army…along with the partner security forces,” but that due to fights over the judicial overhaul, in recent weeks, “Something fell apart,” Gallant said in his speech.

On Wednesday, 360 active and current reservists from the Israeli Navy sent a letter to Gallant informing him of their refusal to volunteer for service in protest of the judicial reform.

“I hear the voices from the [military] field and I am worried. What is happening to Israeli society does not pass over IDF [army]. I see the strength of our forces being weakened,” the defense minister warned.

The planned change would severely limit the power of the Supreme Court of Justice, give the government the power to choose judges, and end the appointment of legal advisers to ministries by the attorney general.

If enacted, the reform would be the most radical change ever in the system of government in Israel.

However, Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, insists that his judicial plan would enhance democracy and would restore balance between the legislative, executive, and judicial powers.