Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu remained in hospital on Sunday night to recover from an emergency heart procedure, as tens of thousands of supporters and opponents of his government’s judicial overhaul plan held rival rallies ahead of a key vote.
Netanyahu’s sudden hospitalisation for the implant of a pacemaker added another twist to a legislative plan that has bitterly divided the country. Monday’s vote in parliament is expected to approve the first major piece of legislation in the contentious plan.
The overhaul calls for sweeping changes aimed at curbing the powers of the judiciary, from limiting the supreme court’s ability to challenge parliamentary decisions to changing the way judges are selected.
President Joe Biden on Sunday again called on Netanyahu not to go ahead with Monday’s vote, saying: “Given the range of threats and challenges confronting Israel right now, it doesn’t make sense for Israeli leaders to rush this — the focus should be on pulling people together and finding consensus.”
Israel’s ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, has attempted to broker a compromise between the prime minister and his opponents. Herzog returned on Sunday from a trip to the White House and immediately went to Netanyahu’s hospital room.
“This is a time of emergency,” Herzog said. “We have to reach an agreement.”
Herzog planned meetings later on Sunday with Israel’s opposition leader, Yair Lapid, and Benny Gantz, head of National Unity, another opposition party.
Netanyahu and his far-right allies, a collection of ultranationalist and ultra-Orthodox parties, say the changes are needed to curb the powers of unelected judges. Their opponents, coming largely from Israel’s professional middle class, say the plan will destroy the country’s fragile system of checks and balances and push Israel toward authoritarian rule.
The plan has triggered seven months of mass protests, drawn harsh criticism from business and medical leaders, and a fast-rising number of military reservists in key units have said they will stop reporting for duty if the plan passes, raising concern that Israel’s security could be threatened.
On Sunday, Netanyahu’s doctors said the procedure to fit a pacemaker had gone smoothly and he was expected to be discharged later that day. On Sunday evening, Netanyahu remained in Sheba hospital near Tel Aviv.
The operation has disrupted Netanyahu’s schedule. His weekly cabinet meeting scheduled for Sunday morning was postponed. Two upcoming overseas trips, to Cyprus and Turkey, were being rescheduled, his office said.
In a short video statement from the hospital on Sunday, Netanyahu, 73, said he felt fine and thanked his doctors for his treatment and the public for wishing him well.
Wearing a white dress shirt and dark blazer, Netanyahu said he was pursuing a compromise with his opponents while also preparing for a vote on Monday that would enshrine a key piece of the legislation into law. “I want you to know that tomorrow morning I’m joining my colleagues at the Knesset,” he said.
On Sunday evening, tens of thousands of people gathered for mass rallies for and against the plan. Netanyahu’s supporters thronged central Tel Aviv – normally the setting for anti-government protests – while his opponents marched on Israel’s Knesset, or parliament.
Many of the protesters in Jerusalem had camped out in a nearby park, after completing a four-day march into the city from Tel Aviv on Saturday.
After seven months of mass protests against the plan, tensions were surging as lawmakers began a marathon debate over the first major piece of the overhaul ahead of Monday’s vote
In a fiery speech launching the session, Simcha Rothman, a main driver of the overhaul, denounced the courts, saying they damaged Israel’s democratic ideals by arbitrarily striking down government decisions. “This small clause is meant to restore democracy to the state of Israel,” Rothman said. “I call on Knesset members to approve the bill.”
Speaking in parliament, opposition leader Yair Lapid called for Netanyahu to resume compromise talks and lauded the protesters for standing up to the government. “The government of Israel launched a war of attrition against the citizens of Israel and discovered the people can’t be broken. We won’t give up on our children’s future,” he said.
Orit Farkash HaCohen, of the opposition National Unity party, broke down into tears as she criticised the government. “Our country is on fire. You’ve destroyed the country,” she said. “I can’t believe what I’m seeing.”
More than 100 retired security chiefs publicly supported the growing ranks of military reservists who plan to stop reporting for duty if the overhaul is advanced.
“These are dangerous cracks,” military chief Lt Gen Herzi Halevi wrote in a letter to soldiers on Sunday meant to address the tensions. “If we will not be a strong and cohesive military, if the best do not serve in the IDF [Israel Defense Forces], we will no longer be able to exist as a country in the region.”
English (US)