Israel PM says he will delay his judicial overhaul. But will that be enough for protesters?

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (CNN) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he would postpone a vote on his planned judicial reforms, but analysts say that may not be enough to cool the protests.

The prime minister has postponed the second and third rounds of votes on the remaining laws until after the Jewish Passover holiday of April 5-13, giving him “time to give a real opportunity for real debate.” I will give you a

Nonetheless, Netanyahu insisted an overhaul was needed. He may be trying to buy himself some time, but it’s unclear whether the postponement of the vote will silence the mass protests and mass strikes that are paralyzing the country, experts say. To tell.

Gideon Rahat, a senior fellow at the Israel Institute for Democracy and a member of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said the protests could taper off after the announcement or resume at a later date, but demonstrators nevertheless He said he was “ready” for reform. , you can always go back to the street.

“Protesters had the infrastructure to take their protests[to the streets]within minutes,” Rahat told CNN, adding that this was not just one protest, but dozens of groups. He pointed out that some people may decide to continue the rally despite the postponement.

“The infrastructure is in place and we will make a comeback (on the road) if necessary,” he said.

Major General Tamir Heyman, former head of Israel’s Intelligence Directorate and managing director of the Institute for National Security (INSS), will end anger on the streets, even if he postpones the vote until the Passover holiday is over Said it can’t be done.

“Unless Netanyahu makes a public statement that he made a mistake in leading the reform and that he retains all future motivations to resume judicial reform,” Heyman told CNN. “The protests will continue,” he said. “This is the only scenario where all demos stop completely.”

But if Netanyahu uses the moratorium to hold proper negotiations with all political parties and put forward a softened reform bill that is ultimately approved by the opposition, “probably, in that case, after Independence Day It’s the final state, the remission of the protests,” Heyman said, referring to Israel’s National Day on April 25/26.

During his speech, Netanyahu also repeated his criticism that some reservists refused to train or serve in the army in protest of the planned changes. The Prime Minister had dismissed Defense Minister Yove Gallant for his opposition to the planned overhaul.

“The state of Israel cannot continue to accept people who refuse military service,” he said. “Rejection is the end of our country.”

The INSS’s Heyman said the protests could pose a security threat as parts of the military have begun to split between those in favor of and those against judicial reform.

That hasn’t happened yet, but Heyman said a major move could “expand and deepen gaps, rifts within the (IDF) unit…”.

Some of the military personnel Netanyahu refers to also serve in very important units, Rahat said. But since they are mostly “country-loving” volunteers, Netanyahu needs to “regain their trust” to restore them to their former positions.

“This is a question of legitimacy. This is a question of trust,” Rahat said.