JAKARTA - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sacked Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Sunday, sparking mass protests, a day after Gallant decided not to support the government and urged an end to the judicial system reshuffle plan.
As news of the dismissal spread, tens of thousands of protesters, many who waved Israel's blue and white flags, took to the streets late at night across the country. The masses gathered outside Netanyahu's home in Jerusalem, trying to break through the security ranks.
About three months since taking office, PM Netanyahu's nationalist-religious coalition has fallen into crisis due to the divisions posed by the judicial reshuffle plan.
"State security cannot be a card in a political game. Netanyahu crossed the red line tonight," opposition leaders Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz said in a joint statement.
They asked Likud Party members Netanyahu not to engage in "national security collapse."
In announcing the dismissal of Gallant, PM Netanyahu's office did not name a replacement or provide other details.
"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided tonight to dismiss Defense Minister Yoav Gallant," the statement said.
Shortly thereafter, Gallant (64) wrote on Twitter: "The security of the Israeli state has always been and will always be the mission of my life."
PM Netanyahu made the decision to fire Gallant, after the former naval executive warned on Saturday that the reshuffle plan was at risk of a "clear, direct and real threat to state security" and called for the plan to be stopped.
"At this point, for the sake of our country, I am willing to take any risk and pay any price," Gallant said in a televised address.
PM Netanyahu acted in response late Sunday, when he was ready to ratify the main piece of the reshuffle package, a bill that would tighten political control over judicial appointments, granting executives wider freedom to appoint judges at the Supreme Court.
Earlier this month, President Isaac Herzog warned the country was facing a "disaster", unless wider consensus could be reached on how to overhaul the judiciary.
However, PM Netanyahu has vowed to continue the project he said was necessary to control activist judges, restore the appropriate balance between the elected government and the judiciary.
Meanwhile, police used water cannons to push protesters back from Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem. Meanwhile, in Tel Aviv, where hundreds of thousands of people have been taking to the streets since the start of the year, protesters have lit several flames on the main highway.
Protests were decreasing over the night, and finally the police forcibly eliminated the small crowd refusing to disperse.
It was not immediately clear whether the protests would affect government tactics. At least three ministers from the Likud Party said publicly it was time to re-evaluate their strategy and they would support the termination of legislation, if Netanyahu decided to do so.
Meanwhile, the head of the parliamentary committee who ruled the law said that discussions would resume on Monday.
In recent weeks, senior Ministry of Finance officials have warned of an economic backlash and business leaders have raised alarms for the future of their companies.
Adding to the pressure, the head of the Histadrut labor federation, an umbrella organization for hundreds of thousands of public sector workers, said he was "herding" by Gallant's sacking and promised a "dramatic" announcement on Monday.
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