Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was released from the hospital Monday after an emergency heart procedure, facing an unprecedented national crisis ahead of the Knesset's vote on the first major piece of legislation to reform the country's justice system.
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Anti-reform demonstrators stepped up their Opposition, blocking a road leading up to the Knesset and businesses shuttered their doors in protest of the vote.
The judicial overhaul has divided Israel, testing the delicate social ties that bind the country, rattling the cohesion of its powerful military and repeatedly drawing concern from even its closest ally, the United States.
Video: Anti-reform protests in Jerusalem. Credit: Yoni Rikner
Efforts to find a last-ditch compromise were underway, with President Isaac Herzog shuttling between the sides, including a meeting at the hospital where Netanyahu was treated, to find an agreement on the way forward. But it was unclear whether those would result in a compromise ahead of the vote, expected Monday afternoon.
Early Monday, protesters banging on drums and blowing horns blocked a road leading to the Knesset, and police used water cannons to push them back. The protest movement said one of its leaders was arrested.
Israeli media reported that a consortium of businesses announced late Sunday that some of their members wouldn't open on Monday in protest at the government's plans, leading to big mall chains and some gas stations sealing their doors.
The dramatic events were being watched closely in Washington, from where the Biden administration has frequently spoken out against Netanyahu's government and its overhaul plan. In a statement to the news site Axios late Sunday, Biden warned against pushing ahead with the legal changes that were sparking so much division.
"Given the range of threats and challenges confronting Israel right now, it doesn't make sense for Israeli leaders to rush this – the focus should be on pulling people together and finding consensus," he told the site.
Netanyahu's sudden hospitalization for the implant of a pacemaker added another dizzying twist to an already dramatic series of events that have bitterly divided his country and are certain to shape Israel's future.
Netanyahu's doctors said Sunday the procedure had gone smoothly. In a short video statement from the hospital late Sunday, Netanyahu, 73, said he felt fine and thanked his doctors for his treatment and the public for wishing him well.
Wearing a white dress shirt and dark blazer, Netanyahu said he was pursuing a compromise with his opponents while also preparing for a vote on Monday that would enshrine a key piece of the legislation into law.
"I want you to know that tomorrow morning I'm joining my colleagues at the Knesset," he said.
The overhaul calls for sweeping changes aimed at curbing the powers of the judiciary, from limiting the Supreme Court's ability to challenge parliamentary decisions to changing the way judges are selected.
Netanyahu and his allies say the changes are needed to curb the powers of unelected judges. Their opponents, coming largely from Israel's professional middle class, say the plan will destroy the country's fragile system of checks and balances and push Israel toward authoritarian rule.
The plan has triggered seven months of mass protests, drawn harsh criticism from business and medical leaders, and a fast-rising number of military reservists in key units have said they will stop reporting for duty if the plan passes, raising concern that Israel's security could be threatened.
Herzog, who returned Sunday from a trip to the White House, immediately rushed to Netanyahu's hospital room.
"This is a time of emergency," Herzog said. "We have to reach an agreement."
Herzog held meetings later Sunday with Israel's opposition leader, Yair Lapid, and Benny Gantz, head of National Unity, another opposition party.
As they spoke, tens of thousands of people gathered for mass rallies for and against the plan. Netanyahu's supporters thronged central Tel Aviv – normally the setting for anti-government protests – while his opponents marched on the Knesset.
Many of the protesters in Jerusalem had camped out in a nearby park, after completing a four-day march into the city from Tel Aviv on Saturday.
Further ratcheting up the pressure on the prime minister, thousands of military reservists have been declaring their refusal to serve under a government taking steps that they see as setting the country on a path to dictatorship. Those moves have prompted fears that the military's preparedness could be compromised.
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"These are dangerous cracks," military chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi wrote in a letter to soldiers Sunday meant to address the tensions. "If we will not be a strong and cohesive military, if the best do not serve in the IDF, we will no longer be able to exist as a country in the region."
Despite the attempts to project business as usual, Netanyahu's schedule was disrupted by his hospitalization. His weekly Cabinet meeting scheduled for Sunday morning was postponed. Two upcoming overseas trips, to Cyprus and Turkey, were being rescheduled, his office said.
In Monday's vote, legislators are to decide on an overhaul measure that would prevent judges from striking down government decisions on the basis that they are "unreasonable."
Proponents say the current "reasonability" standard gives judges excessive powers over decision-making by elected officials. Critics say removing it would allow the government to pass arbitrary decisions, make improper appointments or firings and open the door to corruption.
