Protests flared across Israel on Sunday night after prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu sacked his defence minister Yoav Gallant for calling for a halt to a contentious judicial overhaul, warning that it was a threat to national security.
The fight over the proposals, which would significantly weaken the powers of the judiciary, has plunged Israel into an escalating political crisis, unsettling investors, alarming its allies, and sparking the biggest wave of protests for more than a decade.
Further demonstrations erupted after the news of Gallant’s dismissal broke on Sunday, with thousands of Israelis blocking the main highway in Tel Aviv, and others clashing with police outside Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem. Israeli media reported that protests were taking place in more than 150 locations.