Caution prevails today in Israelthe day after the announcement by Benjamin Netanyahu of a “pause” in the parliamentary process for judicial reform that has caused an unprecedented crisis in the country.

Israel’s defense minister, who was fired by Benjamin Netanyahu over his stance against judicial reform, is staying in office until further notice, aides said, in a sign that confusion is prevailing within the Israeli government in the face of popular anger and international backlash. for the reform that threatens Israel with an anti-democratic to authoritarian deviation.

“We are in the midst of a crisis that endangers the fundamental unity among us. The crisis demands that we behave responsibly,” Netanyahu said in his televised message yesterday, calling for compromise talks with the center-left opposition.

The move somewhat stabilized the Israeli economy, but offered no prospect of an exit from the crisis, while doubts are mounting about the credibility of Benjamin Netanyahu and within his Likud party, where top officials have taken a stand against the judiciary. reform.

The prime minister “managed to turn a crushing defeat into a draw with fine words,” writes Nahum Barnea, the editor of the lead article for the Yediot Aharonot newspaper.

Netanyahu’s Credibility Crisis – Polls Predict Government Coalition’s Electoral Defeat

“Whatever he said or is going to say, there are few who believe him, I believe that the trust in him is not high, even among the right-wing demonstrators who gathered yesterday by the thousands,” he writes, referring to the first counter-demonstration held last night in Jerusalem by supporters of the reform after months of unprecedented mobilization of Israeli public opinion against Netanyahu’s venture.

According to a Channel 12 TV poll, 63% of Israelis – and 58% of Likud party voters – oppose the removal of Defense Minister Yoav Gallad, who has taken a stand against judicial reform, warning of the danger of the movement’s expansion protest and in the ranks of the armed forces. His ouster sparked fierce backlash in Israel, where tens of thousands again took to the streets on Sunday and yesterday to protest his beheading.

Correspondingly are the percentages of those who support the freezing of the reform.

68% of Israelis blame Netanyahu for the crisis, while if elections were held today, the Israeli prime minister and his allies in the governing coalition, the most right-wing coalition formed by Israel, would lose.

Two opinion polls show that Likud would lose 7 seats in the event of an election, while the ruling coalition has only a slim majority of 64 MPs in the 120-member Knesset.

The opposition ready for talks under the auspices of President Herzog

Intervening in the escalation of the crisis, the President of Israel Isaac Herzog took the floor yesterday and called for the immediate termination of the legislative work on judicial reform. At the same time, trade unions and professional associations declared a general strike.

This was followed by the Israeli prime minister’s televised message to which two opposition leaders, the centrists Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz, quickly reacted by saying they were ready to talk with the government, but under the auspices of the president and warning the government against any taunting.

“Better late than never,” said Benny Gantz. “We will immediately present ourselves at the presidential residence with an outstretched hand,” he said, calling on Netanyahu to “stop the threats” and send a team to Isaac Herzog.

Today, political commentators are skeptical of Benjamin Netanyahu’s intentions.

A militia as a gift to the far-right Minister of Homeland Security

Long discussions with the far-right partners of the government coalition followed Netanyahu’s announcement yesterday, and especially with the Minister of Internal Security Itamar Ben Gvir, who, according to the Israeli press, threatened to leave the government in the event of a freeze on judicial reform.

Itamar Ben Gvir, head of the far-right Jewish Power party, said Netanyahu had assured him that if talks with the opposition during the Passover and other Jewish holidays in April fail, judicial reform would be completed unilaterally.

Meanwhile, Ben-Gvir’s party announced, before the Israeli prime minister’s televised announcement, the signing of an agreement between the two men under which the minister of internal security receives new powers and the creation of a “militia” under his command. Details of this gift have not been announced.

“It’s a victory for those protesting, but the one who actually bent and trampled Netanyahu is Itamar Gvir (…) he secured a scandalous promise: the creation of a militia under his command,” complains Yossi Werter of Haaretz on the front page of the newspaper.

Another top government official, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotris, head of the far-right Religious Zionist party, gave the assurance yesterday, after Netanyahu’s speech, that “the reform will proceed and the necessary changes to the judicial system and Israeli democracy will be made ».

One of the groups leading the protest movement against the judicial reform has announced that the challenge movement will continue “until the judicial coup is not fully ended”.