Netanyanhu Delays Israel Court Overhaul Plan in Face of Massive Protests Transcript

To the crisis in Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has backed down in face of protests that engulfed the country. He paused his plan to overhaul the country’s supreme court, a critic called a power grab. Foreign correspondent James Longman is on the scene in Tel Aviv. Good morning, James.

Good morning, George. After weeks of pressure, Prime Minister Netanyahu has finally relented agreeing to put on hold his controversial plans to overhaul the judiciary. But that’s the key here. It is not over yet, and protestors say they’re going to stay on the streets until these reforms are scrapped for good.

(00:34)
Overnight protests in Israel raging on, after Prime Minister Netanyahu announced a pause on his controversial plans to overhaul the country’s courts. In Tel Aviv, demonstrators seen clashing with police. You could see that they’ve taken water cannon all the way down the street there. This is kind of a game of cat and mouse between protestors and the police.

(00:54)
Right wing leaders called on their own supporters to come out onto the street. They clashed with pro-democracy activists and the police fueling the violence. In a national address, Netanyahu said, “There must not be a civil war,” but his tone was defiant, blaming Israeli media for launching a propaganda campaign against him.

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Netanyahu is under investigation for corruption and abuse of power. The nation’s Attorney General says the Prime Minister’s efforts to overhaul the judiciary while he’s under indictment would violate a conflict of interest law. Many Israelis see the change as a threat to their country’s founding principles.

We’re here to save our democracy. I’m worried because I’m not sure that we will be able to mend what is broken now.

Netanyahu only announced the pause after making a deal with his right wing allies, giving his far right Security Minister Ben-Gvir his own national guard. That’s a move some worry may only deepen divides here.

(01:48)
Now the deal is to hold off a month until the Knesset is back from recess and the White House, which has postponed inviting Prime Minister Netanyahu to the White House has now said he can come for talks with President Biden. Guys.

James Longman, thanks.