Israel defence minister steps back into dispute over judicial overhaul

Israel’s defence minister said he was taking steps to “ensure the security” of the country after media reports that he was trying to delay a judicial overhaul that has led thousands of reservists to threaten to stop volunteering for military service.

Israel’s Channel 12 reported on Friday evening that Yoav Gallant was trying to persuade government and opposition leaders to extend the parliamentary session so that a vote on the reforms could be delayed until consensus had been reached.

The vote, set for next week, is on the first part of the overhaul being pushed by Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline government.

In response, Gallant’s office said he was “taking measures in order to reach a wide consensus, and in order to ensure the security of the state of Israel, while leaving [the military] separate from political discourse”.

The defence minister’s intervention comes amid a growing public mobilisation against the overhaul. On Saturday evening, tens of thousands of protesters waving Israeli flags streamed into Jerusalem after a four-day march billed by organisers as an attempt to “save democracy”.

Protests have been held every week for 28 weeks since the government unveiled its plans in January, and further rallies were due across the country on Saturday night, including in Tel Aviv, Haifa and Be’er Sheva.

The demonstrations have been accompanied by displays of defiance from reservists, with more than 1,100 from the air force publishing a letter on Friday threatening to stop volunteering for duty if the government plans designed to rein in the judiciary become law.

The letter from the air crew followed similar threats from reservists in other parts of the armed forces, which have fuelled consternation among senior officers about military preparedness.

In an unusually frank recognition of the concerns, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, the military’s chief spokesman, said earlier on Friday that reservists’ failure to report for duty “hurts the [military] and state security”.

“Over the past days, it has become evident that cohesion has been damaged, [in a way] which will take a long time to repair,” he said.

Hardliners in the government reacted with fury to the letter. Itamar Ben-Gvir, the ultranationalist national security minister, accused reservists of trying to “hold the Israeli government hostage and impose on it the political position of a minority”. “We will not give in to this dangerous attempt to create chaos,” he said.

However, several former leaders of the Israeli military, the Mossad intelligence agency and the Shin Bet internal security agency defended the reservists, and called on Netanyahu to delay the overhaul.

“The legislative process violates the social contract that has existed for 75 years between thousands of reserve commanders and soldiers,” the former security officials wrote in a letter published on Saturday. “[We] are holding up a bright red stop sign before you and your government.”

Government officials say the overhaul is needed to curb an over-powerful judiciary that they believe has pursued a partisan, leftwing agenda. The first bill, due to be voted through next week, would stop Israel’s top court from using the standard of “reasonableness” to strike down government decisions on issues such as appointments.

But critics say the proposals would remove key checks on Israeli governments, pave the way for undermining minority protections, foster corruption and damage the economy.

Gallant’s intervention is the second time he has tried to slow down the overhaul. In March, he warned that division over the reforms posed an “immediate danger” to security.

Netanyahu responded then by announcing that he would sack Gallant, triggering a further round of protests that escalated into a brief general strike.

Netanyahu backed down in the face of the protests and the strike, which closed shops, banks and Israeli embassies around the world, as well as grounding flights at Israel’s international airport. He delayed the overhaul for three months, distanced himself from some of its most controversial elements, and announced that Gallant would remain in post.