Israeli Defense Minister tries to postpone vote on first judicial reform law

July 22 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Israeli Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, would be trying to postpone the final vote on the first law of the controversial judicial reform promoted by the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in the midst of the massive protests of the population.

It is expected that it will be approved in the Israeli Knesset or Parliament on Monday or Tuesday despite the contestation, so Gallant “is taking steps to achieve a broad consensus and guarantee the security of the State of Israel,” the minister himself highlighted in a statement collected by ‘The Times of Israel’.

Gallant already managed in March to stop the processing of the judicial reform and for the Government and the opposition to sit down to negotiate with the mediation of the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, after the massive protests, a general strike and the closure of the Ben Gurion International Airport.

Now Gallant has maintained contacts with the leaders of the parties that form the coalition led by Netanyahu and with the opposition parties to try to postpone the summer recess of the Knesset, reports Channel 12 television.

Gallant has also met with the Chief of Staff of the Israeli Armed Forces, Herzi Halevi, and with the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Tomer Bar, because the minister cannot be “indifferent” to the security consequences of the protests and refusal to carry out military volunteering, according to the newspaper ‘Yedioth Aharonoth’.

Other members of Netanyahu’s coalition, such as the leader of the Shas party, Aryeh Deri, would also be against unilaterally promoting a reform of this magnitude to please more radical government figures such as Yariv Levin, Bezalel Smotrich or Itamar Ben Gvir.

“Deri is dissatisfied with the behavior and the statements of Levin, Smotrich and Ben Gvir. He wants to stop the race towards the abyss,” according to ‘Yeidoth’ sources.

However, government sources consulted this Saturday suggest that Netanyahu has no intention of stopping the processing of the law.

“The position of the Government and the coalition is unequivocal: the greatest damage to Israel’s security and democracy is the subordination of the Government and the Knesset to the dictates of military units,” official sources have stated, referring to the refusal to volunteer military service recently announced by members of the Air Force.

“We will continue trying to reach an agreement on this legislation until the last moment. If there is no agreement, the legislation will be approved as planned,” he stressed.