Israel: Benjamin Netanyahu announces delay in judicial overhaul plans following months of unrest

Following massive demonstrations and strikes by Israelis over the past three months, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on March 27, 2023 announced that he is ready to delay the government's judicial overhaul plans.

Flights had been disrupted, hospitals stopped non-emergency services, and even diplomats walked off the job.

After nearly three months of increasing tensions, Netanyahu said in a broadcast: "Out of a sense of national responsibility, out of a will to prevent a rupture among our people, I have decided to pause the second and third readings of the bill" to allow time for dialogue.

Netanyahu spoke after tens of thousands of people demonstrated outside the parliament building in Jerusalem.

The legislation will now be considered further in the next session of parliament, which begins in the second half of April, the prime minister said.

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