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Protests and strike rock Israel as future of Netanyahu’s judicial reforms falls into doubt
(JTA) — Israel was filled with surreal images Sunday night as thousands of people lit bonfires and gathered to protest in the streets against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his planned judicial overhaul.
On Monday morning, those dramatic scenes were replaced by another: of packed trains and crowded roads as protesters convened on Jerusalem in an effort to sustain pressure on Netanyahu as his governing coalition appeared to teeter over the divisive judiciary legislation.
Israel’s national labor union announced a general strike for Monday. Businesses and many schools were closed; universities canceled classes; and departures were grounded at Ben-Gurion Airport.
The protests began after Netanyahu fired his defense minister, Yoav Galant, who had called for a monthlong pause to the court reform just days before part of it was set to become law. Galant’s termination led even more Netanyahu allies to urge a halt to the controversial legislation, something the prime minister is now reportedly considering after months of standing his ground.
Netanyahu’s new willingness to pause the judicial overhaul came after at least three more government ministers called for the legislation to be suspended. One of them, Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli, is responsible for the government’s relationship with world Jewry, many of whose leaders have come out against the court reform. Another minister indicating his support for a pause is former Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat.
View of the Ayalon highway in Tel Aviv after the morning after a protest against the Israeli government’s planned judicial overhaul, March 27, 2023. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Those voices signaled that Netanyahu has lost the votes he needs to pass the court reform, which would sap the Israeli Supreme Court of much of its power and independence. Netanyahu has a 64-member majority in Israel’s parliament, the Knesset and had planned to bring a major piece of the overhaul to a final vote as soon as Monday. But if four of his coalition’s lawmakers vote against the bill — something that now would appear likely, it would fail.
Israeli media was reporting Monday morning that Itamar Ben-Gvir, the head of the far-right Jewish Power party, was threatening to topple the government if the reform did not move forward.
The protests coalesced soon after Netanyahu announced Gallant’s firing in a brief statement at 9 p.m. Israel time. Thousands of protesters blocked Tel Aviv’s main highway, filling lanes that are usually clogged with traffic and lighting a bonfire on the asphalt. At least one protester brought a tent, seemingly intending to stay the night. Instead, protesters were cleared off the highway at 3 a.m., though it remained unclear if they would reopen for morning rush hour. Three police officers were injured while clearing the highway.
Protests stretched far beyond the left-wing mecca of Tel Aviv, and took place in cities across the country. In Jerusalem, outside Netanyahu’s residence, protesters were hit by water cannons, as were protesters in Tel Aviv. There was a similar — if smaller — protest with a bonfire in Kiryat Shmona, a small city in Israel’s north that just months ago voted for Netanyahu’s coalition by an overwhelming margin. A protester was hit by a car in the city of Gedera. More protests were called for Monday.
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Who Was Tabtabai, Hezbollah’s Military Leader Killed by Israel?
People inspect a damaged building, after Israeli military said on Sunday that it struck a militant from the Lebanese Iran-aligned Hezbollah group, in Beirut’s southern suburbs, Lebanon November 23, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohammed Yassin
The Israeli military on Sunday killed Hezbollah’s top military official, Haytham Ali Tabtabai, in a strike on the outskirts of the Lebanese capital that came despite a year-long ceasefire.
His killing was announced by Israel’s military. Hezbollah later confirmed his death, hailing him as “the great jihadist commander” who had “worked to confront the Israeli enemy until the last moment of his blessed life.”
Israel had already eliminated most of Iran-backed Hezbollah’s leadership during a war that raged between October 2023 and November 2024, when a US-brokered truce was agreed.
But Tabtabai, who was appointed as the group’s chief of staff after its recent war with Israel, was killed in a rare post-ceasefire operation against a senior Hezbollah figure.
MILITARY LEADER ROSE THROUGH HEZBOLLAH’S RANKS
Tabtabai was born in Lebanon in 1968 to a father with Iranian roots and a Lebanese mother, according to a senior Lebanese security source. He was not a founding member of Hezbollah but was part of its “second generation,” deploying with the group to fight alongside its allies in Syria and Yemen, the source said.
Israel’s military said Tabtabai joined Hezbollah in the 1980s and held several senior posts, including in its Radwan Force, an elite fighting unit. Israel killed most Radwan figures last year ahead of its ground invasion into Lebanon.
During last year’s war, Tabtabai led Hezbollah’s operations division and rose in rank as other top commanders were eliminated, the Israeli military’s statement said.
Once the ceasefire came into force, Tabtabai was appointed chief of staff and “worked extensively to restore their readiness for war with Israel,” according to the statement.
The Lebanese security source confirmed Tabtabai was swiftly promoted as other top Hezbollah officials were killed, and had been appointed chief of staff over the last year.
The Alma Center, a security research and teaching organization in Israel, said Tabtabai had survived other Israeli attacks both in Syria and during the war in Lebanon.
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Netanyahu, Smotrich to Meet on Israeli 2026 Budget that Faces Battle for Approval
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich during the weekly cabinet meeting at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, Israel, January 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/Pool
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and senior ministry officials will present Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later on Sunday with the state budget and planned structural reforms for 2026, Smotrich’s office said.
“The Finance Minister will present to the Prime Minister the necessary measures to ensure continued economic growth and to combat the high cost of living,” it said.
It added that cabinet ministers would vote on the budget on Dec. 4 but it is unlikely the budget would be approved by year end.
According to Israeli law, the budget must be approved by parliament by the end of March or new elections are triggered.
Its final approval faces an uphill battle that could ultimately lead to new elections.
The government has splintered in the past two years over the Gaza war, the ceasefire which has halted it and demands by ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties to exempt Jewish seminary students from mandatory military service.
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Hamas Delegation Meets Egypt Spy Chief, Says Israeli ‘Breaches’ Threaten Ceasefire
Palestinian women look out of a window near the site of Saturday’s Israeli strike in the Central Gaza Strip, November 23, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa/File Photo
A senior Hamas delegation met Egypt’s intelligence chief in Cairo on Sunday to discuss the ceasefire agreement and the situation in Gaza, the group said, as both Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group continue to trade accusations of truce violations.
Egypt, Qatar and the US have been mediating between Hamas and Israel, securing the ceasefire that came into effect last month.
In a statement, the group said it reaffirmed its commitment to implementing the first phase of the ceasefire agreement in its meeting with Egypt’s intelligence chief, but accused Israel of “continued violations” that it said threatened to undermine the deal.
Hamas, whose delegation included its exiled Gaza chief Khalil Al-Hayya, called for a “clear and defined mechanism” under the supervision of mediators to document and halt any breaches of the deal.
The movement said it also discussed with Egypt ways to urgently resolve the issue of Hamas members in Rafah tunnels, adding that communication with them had been cut off.
Reuters reported earlier this month that mediators were trying to address the fate of a group of Hamas fighters holed up in tunnel networks in Israeli-controlled areas of Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said the country’s military killed five senior Hamas members on Saturday after a fighter was sent into Israeli-controlled Gaza territory to attack Israeli soldiers there.