80 Thousand Residents Take To The Streets, Workers To Work Strike Diplomats: Israeli PM Netanyahu Postpones Judicial Reshuffle

Protests against Israel's judicial reshuffle. (Wikimedia Commons/Amir Terkel)

JAKARTA - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the postponement of a decision on a heated judicial reshuffle plan on Monday, amid concerns that Israel's worst national crisis in recent years could divide its coalition or lead to violence.

It is unclear how long the bill will be delayed until the next parliamentary session, announced by far-right coalition partner Jawish Power, will satisfy both sides or cool the current crisis.

A far-right coalition partner, Itamar Security Minister Ben-Gvir said he had approved the delay in exchange for a commitment to propose the legislation in the next parliamentary session.

"I agree to remove veto rights to reject the legislation, in exchange for a commitment from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that the legislation will be submitted to Knesset to be approved in the following session," Ben-Gvir said in a statement, citing The National News.

The proposed changes, which critics say are attacks on Israeli democracy, will complicate the rule of the Supreme Court to rule the legislature and executives. The change will also give the government greater power to appoint judges.

Opponents of plans to tighten parliamentary controls over the judicial process called it a threat to democracy, garnering massive protests against it.

Meanwhile, supporters of the law, including far-right football fans, have promised to hold a counter demonstration.

The decision comes as more than 80,000 Israelis take to the streets, while nearly all major industries strike on Monday.

Flights from Ben Gurion airport were stopped. Likewise, port services, banks, hospitals, and medical services were also stopped, as the head of the Histadrut national labor union called for a public strike to stop the judicial reshuffle.

In addition, diplomats have stopped working on foreign missions. Local governments are expected to close their managed preschool schools, cut other services, while major doctors' unions announced that their members would also strike.

"I call on all protesters in Jerusalem, both from the left and right, to act in a responsible and non-violent manner," PM Netanyahu tweeted.

Separately, Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said on Monday: "We have never experienced days in which external threats unite, while storms are taking place at home".