Israeli PM Netanyahu survives no-confidence vote

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s religious-nationalist coalition government on Monday survived no-confidence motions filed by the opposition in protest over its judicial overhaul plan.

One motion failed by a vote of 59-53, a second by a vote of 60-51, the Knesset speaker said.

Meanwhile, the coalition government plunged into chaos on Monday, after mass overnight protests over the sacking of his defence chief piled pressure on the government to halt its bitterly contested plans to overhaul the judiciary.

Netanyahu had been expected to make a televised statement on Monday morning announcing the plans, which he says are needed to restore balance to the system of government but that critics see as a threat to democracy.

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Amid reports his nationalist-religious coalition risked breaking apart, the statement was postponed while Netanyahu met heads of the parties.

Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who has been leading the process, said that as a member of the ruling Likud party, he would respect whatever decision Netanyahu reached.

“A situation in which everyone does as they wish is liable to bring about the instant fall of the government and collapse of Likud,” he said in a statement. “We must all strive to stabilise the government and coalition.”

Tens of thousands of protesters returned to the streets in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem with many waving the blue and white Israeli flags that have become an emblem of the protests.

Zainab Sa’id