TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Workers in a number of industries in Israel launched a nationwide strike Monday, threatening to cripple the economy as they joined a growing protest movement against the prime minister’s plan Benjamin Netanyahu to overhaul the judiciary.
Flights from the country’s main international airport were grounded, major shopping mall chains and universities were closed, and Israel’s largest trade union group asked its 800,000 members – from healthcare, transport, banking and other sectors – to stop work. Local authorities were expected to close the kindergartens they run and cut other services, and the main doctors’ union announced its members would also walk off the job.
The growing resistance to Netanyahu’s plan came hours after tens of thousands of people took to the streets across the country in a spontaneous outburst of anger over the prime minister’s decision to sack his defense minister after he asked for a break in the review. Chanting “the country is on fire,” they set fires on Tel Aviv’s main highway, shutting down the artery and many others in the country for hours.
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Thousands of protesters gathered outside the Knesset, or parliament, on Monday to keep up the pressure.
“This is the last chance to stop this move towards a dictatorship,” said Matityahu Sperber, 68, who joined a stream of people heading to the protest. “I’m here to fight to the end.”
The overhaul — led by Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, and his allies in Israel’s most right-wing government ever — has plunged Israel into one of its worst domestic crises. It sparked sustained protests that galvanized nearly every sector of society, including the military, where reservists have increasingly come out publicly to say they will not serve in a country headed for autocracy.
However, Palestinian citizens of Israel have largely abandoned the protests. Many say Israel’s democracy is tarnished by military rule over their brethren in the West Bank and the discrimination they face.
The unrest magnified longstanding and irreconcilable differences over Israel’s character that have torn it apart since its founding. Protesters say they are fighting for the very soul of the nation, saying the overhaul would remove Israel’s system of checks and balances and directly challenge its democratic ideals.
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The government has labeled the anarchists as trying to overthrow a democratically elected leadership and says the plan will restore a balance between the judicial and executive branches and reduce what they see as an interventionist court with liberal sympathies.
At the center of the crisis is Netanyahu himself, Israel’s longest-serving leader, and questions about how far he might be willing to go to hold on to power even as he battles three counts of fraud, breach of trust and bribery . housework. Deny bad deeds.
The sacking of his defense minister at a time of increased security threats in the West Bank and elsewhere appeared to be the last straw for many, including the Histadrut, the country’s largest trade union group, which had called off protests months earlier. fire the defense minister.
“Where are we leading our beloved Israel? To the precipice,” said Arnon Bar-David, head of the group, in a rousing speech to applause. “Today we stop everyone’s descent into the abyss.”
On Monday, as the embers of the highway fires died down, Israel’s ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, again called for an immediate suspension of the review.
“The whole nation is gripped with deep concern. Our security, our economy, our society are all under threat,” he said. “Get up now!”
Opposition leader Yair Lapid said the crisis was bringing Israel to its brink.
“We were never close to breaking up. Our national security is at risk, our economy is collapsing, our foreign relations are at an all time low, we don’t know what to tell our children about their future in this country,” Lapid said. “We have been taken hostage by a group of extremists with no brakes and no borders.”
It is unclear whether the threats posed by the attacks to the Israeli economy, which is already on shaky ground, will prompt Netanyahu to suspend the review. Israeli media reported that a lawyer representing the prime minister in his corruption trial has threatened to resign if the review is not stopped.
The developments were seen in Washington, which is closely allied with Israel but has been uneasy with Netanyahu and far-right elements in his government. National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said the United States was “deeply concerned” by the developments in Israel, which “further underscore the urgent need for compromise.”
“Democratic values have always been and must remain a hallmark of US-Israel relations,” Watson said in a statement.
Netanyahu spent the night in consultations and was expected to address the nation, but later postponed his speech. Some members of Netanyahu’s Likud party said they would support the prime minister if he heeded calls to stop the review.
The architect of the plan, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, a member of the People’s Party, held out for a long time, promising to resign if the review was suspended. But on Monday he said he would respect the prime minister’s decision if he stopped the legislation.
However, Netanyahu’s hardline allies pressed him to continue. “We must not stop the reform of the judicial system and we must not give in to anarchy,” said Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Netanyahu’s dismissal of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant appeared to signal that the prime minister and his allies would continue. Gallant was the first senior member of the ruling Likud party to speak out against it, saying deep divisions threatened to weaken the army.
And Netanyahu’s government has moved forward with a central element of the overhaul: a law that would give the ruling coalition the final say on all judicial appointments. A parliamentary committee approved the legislation on Monday for a final vote, which could take place this week.
The government is also trying to pass laws that would give the Knesset the authority to overturn Supreme Court decisions and limit judicial review of laws.
A separate law that would have circumvented a Supreme Court ruling to allow a key coalition ally to become a minister has been delayed following a request from that party’s leader.
Netanyahu returned to power late last year after a protracted political crisis that sent Israelis to the polls five times in less than four years. The election was all a referendum on Netanyahu’s eligibility to serve during his corruption trial.
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