Jerusalem (EFE).- The appeal by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who last night publicly urged to halt his own executive’s judicial reform, illustrates how opposition to this plan is growing within Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, which could lead to in a government crisis if the cracks widen.
Gallant’s statements, which yesterday said that it was necessary to put a stop to the controversial project that would undermine the separation of powers and the independence of Justice in Israel, open the ban on Likud for others with a similar position to express themselves openly.
It represents an internal opposition to its own leader, Prime Minister Netanyahu, and to the plans of the government coalition to promote judicial reform despite the massive protests on the streets against the plan and the discontent of the opposition parties.
The objection to Gallant’s reform joins that of another powerful Likud lawmaker, former Parliament Speaker Yuli Edelstein, who has hinted that he will not support the reform if it is voted on next week.
This means that the parliamentary majority to promote the project is reduced to 62 deputies in a Chamber (Knesset) of 120, just one more than the minimum majority of 61 seats necessary to pass laws.
However, according to the Israeli press, three other Likud members have backed Gallant’s call. These are the Minister of Agriculture, Avi Ditcher, and the deputies David Bitan and Eli Dalal, although they did not express whether they would vote for or against the reform.
If at least two did not support it, this would leave the coalition without a majority to push through the measure, potentially plunging Israel into another government crisis and further instability.
The tension is very high due to the division generated by the judicial reform, key in the political agenda of the Israeli right and extreme right, and which is opposed by the liberal sector and other population groups in Israel, where social polarization is further aggravated .
Gallant’s remarks last night were as Netanyahu finished his official visit to the UK, from which he returned today. So far the prime minister has not commented on the matter and has summoned the forces that make up his coalition for a meeting.
The reactions against Gallant within the Government did not wait. The head of National Security, the far-right Itamar Ben Gvir, urged Netanyahu to remove him, while he too was severely criticized by other Likud members.
On the other hand, the opposition leader, former Prime Minister Yair Lapid, praised Gallant’s position, and called on the government to negotiate with the opposition parties to reach a compromise on the reform with the mediation of Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
According to local media, Netanyahu is now planning to remove Gallant from office, or expel him from the Security Cabinet if he does not vote in favor of the plan.
In the coming days, the government coalition was planning to speed up voting on another of the key laws in the judicial reform package, which would give the government de facto control over the judge selection committee, creating even more political tension.
The detractors of the judicial reform consider that this vacancy of powers to the Supreme Court, since it would take away the powers to knock down measures or norms approved by the Government that it saw as unconstitutional.
According to critics, this would de facto end the separation of powers in Israel and deal a blow to the formal foundations on which Israeli democracy rests.
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