| Civil unrest in Israel |
| Chaotic protests broke out last night shortly after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired his defense minister for criticizing a divisive judicial overhaul. The dismissal intensified an already dramatic domestic crisis — one of the gravest in Israeli history. |
| Netanyahu’s decision appeared as an unmistakable signal that the government intends to proceed with a final vote in Parliament early this week on the first part of proposed changes. The plan would give the legislature greater control over the Supreme Court. But if his intent was to muscle through the judicial changes with a fait accompli, his action may have backfired. |
| There have been months of mass protests, but none matched the intensity of those that began spontaneously within minutes of the dismissal. |
| In Tel Aviv, protesters blocked a multilane highway and set fires in at least two major roads. In Jerusalem, crowds broke through police barriers outside Netanyahu’s private residence. |
| The heads of Israel’s leading research universities collectively announced that they would close their classrooms for the immediate future. Israel’s consul general in New York resigned in protest. And Histadrut, the country’s largest labor union, hinted at a general strike. |
| Background: A day before he was fired, Yoav Gallant, the defense minister, had called for a halt to the government’s plan. He had warned that it was causing turmoil in the military and was therefore a threat to Israel’s security. |
| The debate: The government says the changes would make the court more representative of Israel’s diversity and give elected lawmakers primacy over unelected judges. Critics say the measures would remove one of the few remaining checks on government wrongdoing and could lead to authoritarian rule. |
