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Israel’s defense minister calls to ‘stop the legislative process now’ on Netanyahu’s plans to overhaul the courts
(JTA) — Israel’s defense minister called for a pause on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to overhaul the country’s court system, dealing a potentially debilitating blow to proposals that have brought hundreds of thousands of Israeli protesters into the streets and have drawn international criticism, including from President Joe Biden and other world leaders.
Yoav Gallant, in a dramatic, 6-minute televised address Saturday night as protesters once again filled streets throughout Israel, called for a suspension of the judicial legislation, whose first major component was due to go to a final vote next week that would pass it into law. Gallant spoke at a bare podium framed by two Israeli flags and wore an Israeli flag pin on his lapel.
“For the sake of Israel’s security, for the sake of our daughters and sons, we must stop the legislative process now to allow the people of Israel to celebrate the holidays of Passover and Independence Day together, and to mourn together on Memorial Day and Holocaust Remembrance Day,” said Gallant, referencing Jewish and Israeli holidays that will take place over the course of the next month. “These are sacred days for us.”
Gallant is the most prominent ally of Netanyahu to come out against the judicial overhaul. He said that his call for a pause was spurred by the internal conflict the proposal is causing in the ranks of the Israel Defense Forces, where Gallant served as a senior general. IDF reservists have issued mounting threats that they will not report for duty if the overhaul passes, and some have already begun to absent themselves in protest.
Gallant called for broad-based negotiations over the proposal after the holidays are over, and said changes did need to be made to the judicial system. Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, has likewise called for dialogue and has put forward a compromise proposal.
“The growing rift in society is penetrating the IDF and the security forces,” said Gallant, who called himself a right-winger and dedicated member of Netanyahu’s Likud Party. “This is a clear, immediate and tangible threat to the security of the country. That I cannot support.”
Two coalition lawmakers immediately voiced support for Gallant, and a third is reported to back him. Those defections — four members of Netanyahu’s 64-seat coalition, would deprive the measures of the support they need to pass in Israel’s 120-seat parliament, the Knesset.
Gallant also called for the protests to end, and stressed the need for an end to threats of defection from the IDF.
“We must stop the protests and reach a hand out for dialogue,” he said. “We must stop immediately any display of refusal [to serve], which erodes the strength of the IDF and harms the defense establishment. For our security and unity we must return to the arena of dialogue and remember that we are brothers.”
The law Netanyahu hoped to pass this coming week would increase the governing coalition’s control over Supreme Court appointments. Another separate piece of legislation would effectively remove the Supreme Court’s power to review laws.
The courts have been a bulwark protecting vulnerable populations in Israel, including Arabs, women, LGBTQ people and non-Orthodox Jews. Netanyahu, in explaining frustrations that led him to embrace the changes, has mentioned how the court stopped him in 2018 from carrying out planned mass deportations of tens of thousands of African refugees.
Supporters of the overhaul say it will allow the Knesset to more effectively represent the country’s right-wing majority. Critics of the changes say that the bills, should they become law, would concentrate much of the government’s power in the hands of a single entity: the coalition.
The appeal from Gallant, a decorated soldier who rose to the rank of southern commander, may be hard for Netanyahu to ignore. The prime minister reportedly had persuaded Gallant to nix a similar speech on Thursday. Instead, Netanyahu spoke that evening, and pledged to press ahead with the overhaul.
It’s not clear what the immediate trigger was for Gallant to change his mind and deliver the speech anyway. Reporters were given just a few minutes notice of his speech, and it came close to 9 p.m.
As soon as he was done, two other members of Netanyahu’s Likud Party joined Gallant in his appeal: Yuli Edelstein, a former Knesset speaker and Soviet Jewish refusenik, and David Bitan, Netanyahu’s most outspoken critic within the party. Likud lawmaker Avi Dichter, a former head of Israel’s Shin Bet security service, is also reported to back the pause.
Gallant is also the rare figure in Netanyahu’s government who has a close relationship with the Biden administration, which has kept Netanyahu at a distance since his election in November. He has played a critical role in working with his U.S. counterpart, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in mounting joint exercises seen as a deterrent to Iran — a country whose threats Gallant cited in his speech, along with other security challenges Israel faces.ֿ
Gallant ended his speech with a well-known quote from Psalms, quoted throughout Jewish liturgy: “God grant strength to his nation, God bless his nation with peace.”
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Amid Iran Standoff, Witkoff and Kushner Pose Aboard USS Abraham Lincoln Aircraft Carrier
Steve Witkoff (R) aboard the aircraft carrier Lincoln. Photo via i24 / social media used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law
i24 News – Special US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited on Saturday the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier.
The duo, who led the US in the indirect nuclear talks with Iran on Friday, visited the aircraft carrier at the invitation of US Central Command chief, Adm. Brad Cooper.
The carrier arrived in the region last week as part of a US “armada” amid rising tensions with the Islamic regime of Iran. It is stationed in the Arabian Sea.
The visit came hours after US President Donald Trump stated that while the talks went well, “But I think Iran looks like they want to make a deal very badly, as they should. Last time, they decided maybe not to do it, but I think they probably feel differently. We’ll see what the deal is. It’ll be different than last time. And we have a big armada. We have a big fleet heading in that direction. It’ll be there pretty soon. So we’ll see how that works out.”
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Pentagon Says It Will Cut Academic Ties With Harvard University
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth arrives to administer the oath to U.S. Army National Guard soldiers during a re-enlistment ceremony at the base of the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 6, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said on Friday his department was ending professional military education, fellowships, and certificate programs with Harvard University, marking the Trump administration’s latest escalation against the school.
President Donald Trump’s administration has cracked down on top US universities, including Harvard, over a range of issues such as pro-Palestinian protests against US ally Israel’s assault on Gaza, diversity programs, transgender policies and climate initiatives.
“Starting now and beginning in the 2026-27 school year, I am discontinuing all graduate level Professional Military Education (PME), all fellowships and certificate programs between Harvard University and the War Department for active duty service members,” Hegseth, who himself holds a master’s degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, said on X.
The policy will apply to service members enrolling in future programs while those currently enrolled will be allowed to finish their courses, Hegseth said.
He also added that the Pentagon will evaluate similar relationships with other universities in the coming weeks.
Rights advocates have raised free speech, academic freedom and due process concerns over the government’s actions against universities.
A Harvard spokesperson directed Reuters to a page on the history of the university’s ties with the US military that says Harvard has played a “significant role” in America’s military traditions since the nation’s founding.
TRUMP-HARVARD TENSIONS CONTINUE
The university has previously sued the Trump administration over the government’s attempt to freeze federal funding.
Hegseth accused Harvard of “hate America activism,” also calling the university antisemitic in a reference to pro-Palestinian protests.
Protesters, including some Jewish groups, say the government wrongly equates criticism of Israel’s assault on Gaza with antisemitism and advocacy for Palestinian rights with support for extremism.
Harvard has condemned discrimination on campus. Its antisemitism and Islamophobia task forces found last year that Jews and Muslims faced bigotry after the start of Israel’s war in Gaza following an October 2023 Hamas attack.
Trump’s attempts to freeze federal funds for Harvard have faced legal resistance and the two sides have failed to reach a deal thus far.
Trump said this week his administration was seeking $1 billion from Harvard to settle probes into school policies.
Some Ivy League schools have reached agreements with the Trump administration and accepted certain government demands. Columbia University has agreed to pay more than $220 million to the government while Brown University has agreed to pay $50 million to support local workforce development.
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Netanyahu Expected to Meet Trump in US on Wednesday and Discuss Iran
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signs the joint declaration of mutual recognition with Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi, officially establishing full diplomatic relations between the two nations. Photo: Screenshot
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet US President Donald Trump on Wednesday in Washington, where they will discuss negotiations with Iran, Netanyahu’s office said on Saturday.
Iranian and US officials held indirect nuclear talks in the Omani capital Muscat on Friday. Both sides said more talks were expected to be held again soon.
A regional diplomat briefed by Tehran on the talks told Reuters Iran insisted on its “right to enrich uranium” during the negotiations with the US, and that Tehran’s missile capabilities were not raised in the discussions.
Iranian officials have ruled out putting Iran’s missiles – one of the largest such arsenals in the Middle East – up for discussion, and have said Tehran wants recognition of its right to enrich uranium.
PRIME MINISTER SEEKS MISSILE CURBS
“The Prime Minister believes any negotiations must include limitations on ballistic missiles and a halting of the support for the Iranian axis,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
Wednesday’s meeting would be the seventh between Netanyahu and Trump since the US president returned to office in January last year.
The pair had been expected to meet on February 18, but the talks were brought forward amid the renewed engagement with Iran. A spokesperson for Netanyahu did not immediately comment on why the date was moved up.
Last June, the US joined an Israeli military campaign against Iran’s uranium enrichment and other nuclear installations, marking the most direct American military action ever against the Islamic Republic.
Iran retaliated by launching a missile attack on a US base in Qatar.
The US and Israel have repeatedly warned Iran that they would strike again if Tehran pressed ahead with its enrichment and ballistic missile programs.
World powers and regional states fear a breakdown in the negotiations would ignite another conflict between the US and Iran that could spill over to the rest of the oil-producing region.
Iran has vowed a harsh response to any strike and has cautioned neighboring Gulf Arab countries that host US bases that they could be in the firing line if they were involved in an attack.