Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday morning intended to announce in a speech to the nation the suspension of the judicial reform, but postponed his statement, as cracks appeared in his coalition with the threat of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir to dissolve the government if this happens.
But around noon on Monday, Netanyahu told his minister about freezing the legislation.
Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who decided not to resign, as he had threatened repeatedly, clarified: “I understood that there is no other option [except to suspend the bill], the challenge is to convince Ben Gvir. He threatens to dismantle the government over it.”
In light of the inevitable announcement that’s yet to be made, Ben Gvir said he is “considering his steps.”
Minister Nir Barkat, one of the two Likud senior elected officials seeking to replace Netanyahu, issued a statement saying: “I call on all my colleagues in the government, in Likud and in the partner parties in the coalition, to unite behind the Prime Minister and support him in stopping the legislation. We must not bring about the overthrow of the right-wing government with our own hands. Our strength is in our unity.”
The question is, of course, if the right-wing coalition government cowers before the leftist mobs – what do we need a right-wing government for?
