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Israelis opposed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul plan set up bonfires and block a highway during a protest in Tel Aviv after the Israeli leader fired his defence minister.(AP)

Mass protests erupt after Netanyahu fires defence chief

Jmedia Manager
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Jerusalem:Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition was plunged into chaos last night, after mass protests over the sacking of his defence chief piled pressure on the government to halt its bitterly contested plans to overhaul the judiciary.

Netanyahu had been expected to make a televised address announcing the suspension of the plans. But, amid reports that his nationalist-religious coalition risked breaking apart, Israeli media said the statement was postponed.

Tens of thousands of Israelis had earlier poured into the streets of cities across the country in a spontaneous outburst of anger after the prime minister fired his defence minister for challenging the judicial overhaul plan.

The unrest deepened a monthslong crisis over Netanyahu’s plan to overhaul the judiciary, which has sparked mass protests, alarmed business leaders and former security chiefs and drawn concern from the United States and other close allies.

Critics say the constellation of laws will remove the checks and balances in Israel’s democratic system and concentrate power in the hands of the governing coalition. Netanyahu and his allies say the plan will restore a balance between the judicial and executive branches and rein in what they see as an interventionist court with liberal sympathies.
Netanyahu’s dismissal of Defence Minister Yoav Gallant signalled that the prime minister and his allies will barrel ahead this week with the overhaul plan. Gallant had been the first senior member of the ruling Likud party to speak out against it, saying the deep divisions were threatening to weaken the military.Ag
Read the article by Ilan Ben Zion in The Sydney Morning Herald and WAToday.