Political situation in Israel / Reactions to the Israel protests

Protests/Benjamin Netanyahu. TT  

Netanyahu postpones speech after threat of government crisis - close to stopping reform  

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has postponed the speech that, according to previous information, he would have given on Monday morning, Israeli media reports. According to several sources, Netanyahu would have announced during the speech that he is putting the criticized legal reform on hold.  

According to the Times of Israel, however, the plans have caused Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir of the extreme right to leave the government cooperation, prompting Netanyahu to postpone the speech indefinitely.  

However, Channel 12 reports that Netanyahu remains "determined" to stop the reform. Reuters reports that Netanyahu has also notified his government of this, citing media company KAN.  

However, several other ministers are said to have backed the work on the reform to be paused. Economy Minister Nir Barkat writes on Twitter that he calls on the rest of the government to stand behind Netanyahu's decision.  

On Monday, the protests against the reform reached new levels. Several trade unions have announced large strikes and during the morning Israeli President Isaac Herzog also called on Netanyahu to back away from the reform.

Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Abir Sultan / AP  

Minister demands that the reform be carried out: "We must not give in to anarchy" 

Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir from the extreme right demands that the criticized legal reform be pushed through as planned, writes Haaretz. 

"We cannot stop the reform and give way to anarchy," he writes on Twitter. 

The development comes after information in several media claimed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to put the reform on hold after the massive protests.  

The TV channel Channel 12 states that Ben-Gvir is said to have threatened to leave the government if Netanyahu backs down. According to the Times of Israel, this has caused Netanyahu to postpone a speech he had planned to give on Monday morning.  

Protests against the reform. Ariel Schalit / AP  

Israel's extreme right calls for counter-demonstrations  

MP Simcha Rothman of Israel's Religious Zionist Party is calling on government supporters to demonstrate in support of the controversial legal reform, the Times of Israel reports. Rothman heads the justice committee and is one of the architects behind the reform. 

On Twitter, he calls on people to demonstrate outside the Knesset parliament in Jerusalem.  

The far-right movement La Familia has also called for demonstrations, writes Haaretz. The group has previously expressed its support for Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who on Monday threatened a government crisis if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu backed away from the reform.  

During the night several hundreds of thousands of people across Israel demonstrated in protest against the government and the reform. During Monday morning, several media reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is about to put the reform on hold.