Israeli Government Delays Judicial Overhaul Bill Amid Mass Protests

Israelis protest during a demonstration after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and his nationalist coalition government presses on with its judicial overhaul, in Jerusalem, on March 27, 2023. Ilan Rosenberg/Reuters

JERUSALEM—Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on March 27 delayed a decision on bitterly contested plans for a judicial overhaul to next month amid concern that Israel’s worst national crisis in years could fracture his coalition or escalate into violence.

It isn’t known whether the bill’s delay, amid a wave of protests, will satisfy either side or cool a crisis that the army chief on March 27 said made “this hour different to any before.”