Israel's largest trade union group has launched a strike across several sectors, joining a surging protest movement against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to overhaul the judiciary.
Netanyahu's plan is facing unprecedented opposition with the strike by the Histadrut umbrella group – which represents 700,000 workers in health, transit and banking, and many other fields – threatening to paralyse large parts of Israel’s economy.
The country's economy is already on a shaky ground, adding to the pressure on Netanyahu to suspend the overhaul.
Israel’s Airports Authority said departing flights from the country’s main international airport have been grounded.
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The growing resistance to the plan came hours after tens of thousands of people burst into the streets around the country in a spontaneous show of anger at Netanyahu’s decision to sack his defence minister after he called for a pause to the overhaul.
Chanting “the country is on fire”, they lit bonfires on Tel Aviv’s main motorway, closing the road and many others throughout the country for hours.
The overhaul, driven by Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, and his allies in Israel’s most right-wing government ever has plunged Israel into one of its worst domestic crises.
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It has sparked a sustained and intensifying protest movement that has spread to nearly all sectors of society, including its military, where reservists have increasingly come out publicly to say they will not serve a country veering towards autocracy.
The crisis has further divided Israel, magnifying longstanding and intractable differences over the country’s character that have riven it since its establishment.
The protesters say they are fighting for the very soul of the nation, seeing the overhaul as a direct challenge to Israel’s democratic ideals.
The government has labelled them anarchists out to topple a democratically elected leadership.
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The crisis has also shone a light on Netanyahu himself, Israel’s longest serving leader, and the lengths to which he may be willing to go to maintain his grip on power, even as he battles the corruption charges.
The sacking of his defence minister at a time of heightened security threats in the West Bank and elsewhere appeared to be a last straw for many, prompting a new surge of opposition.
“Where are we leading our beloved Israel? To the abyss,” Arnon Bar-David, the union group head, said in a rousing speech to applause.
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“Today we are stopping everyone’s descent toward the abyss.”
The group had sat out the months-long protests but the defence minister’s sacking appeared to provide the impetus for the drastic measure.
On Monday, as the embers of the motorway bonfires were being cleared, Israel’s ceremonial President Isaac Herzog urged Netanyahu to immediately halt the overhaul, calling on the government to put aside political considerations for the sake of the nation.
“The entire nation is rapt with deep worry. Our security, economy, society – all are under threat,” he said. “Wake up now!”
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett, a former ally turned rival of Netanyahu’s, said on Monday that Israel was “in a landslide of losing control”.
他告诉以色列陆军电台:“我们50年来从未处于如此危险的境地。”
全国各地的大学表示，他们将关闭学校，“直到另行通知”。
以色列媒体报道称，一名代表内塔尼亚胡参加腐败审判的律师威胁称，如果不停止改革，他将辞职。
华盛顿一直在关注事态的发展，美国与以色列关系密切，但对内塔尼亚胡及其政府中的极右翼分子感到不安。
美国国家安全委员会发言人阿德里安娜·沃森表示，美国对以色列的事态发展“深表关切”，“这进一步强调了妥协的迫切需要”。
沃森在一份声明中表示:“民主价值观一直是、也必须继续是美以关系的标志。”
据报道，内塔尼亚胡彻夜磋商，并将于周一晚些时候发表讲话。
以色列媒体称他将停止立法，这一消息无法得到独立证实。
内塔尼亚胡的利库德集团(Likud party)的一些成员表示，如果他真的听从要求停止改革的呼吁，他们将支持总理，但改革的设计者、颇受欢迎的利库德集团成员、司法部长亚里夫·拉文(Yariv Lavin)表示，他将辞职。
内塔尼亚胡的强硬派盟友敦促他继续下去。
国家安全部长Itamar Ben-Gvir说:“我们不能停止司法系统的改革，我们不能向无政府状态屈服。”
内塔尼亚胡解雇国防部长约阿夫·加兰特(Yoav Gallant)似乎表明，总理和他的盟友将在本周推进改革计划，推动立法的委员会将按计划于周一举行会议。
加兰特是执政的利库德集团(Likud party)中第一个公开反对该协议的高级成员，他说，深刻的分歧有可能削弱军队。
内塔尼亚胡政府承诺，本周将就改革的核心内容进行议会投票，这项法律将赋予执政联盟对所有司法任命的最终决定权。
它还寻求通过法律，赋予议会推翻最高法院裁决和限制法律司法审查的权力。
另一项旨在规避最高法院允许联合政府一名关键盟友担任部长的裁决的修改法，在该党领导人的要求下被推迟。
内塔尼亚胡及其盟友表示，该计划将恢复司法和行政部门之间的平衡，并遏制他们眼中同情自由派的干预主义法院。
但是批评人士说，这些法律将取消以色列的制衡制度，使权力集中在执政联盟手中。
他们还表示，由于内塔尼亚胡的腐败审判，他存在利益冲突。
内塔尼亚胡面临欺诈、背信和收受贿赂的指控，涉及三起不同的事件，涉及富有的伙伴和强大的媒体大亨。
他否认有不当行为，并否认有关法律改革旨在为他找到逃避审判的途径的指控。
内塔尼亚胡去年年底重新执政，此前以色列经历了一场旷日持久的政治危机，在不到四年的时间里，以色列人进行了五次选举。
这次选举是对内塔尼亚胡是否适合在腐败审判期间任职的全民公决。
