"The fact that supporters of the government, who would typically be thought of as the silent majority, are coming out to the streets is a real show of support for the reforms," attorney and political commentator Daniel Tauber says.
Eli Cohen speaks with Sen. Lindsey Graham, noting the need for "broad national consensus." Following the Israel Hayom report, Cohen issues statement stressing that "there is dialogue aimed at reaching an agreement, but we are in any case committed to passing the reform to strengthen Israel's democracy."
The defense minister's aides say he never got the notification letter formally required to begin the 48-hour countdown to his removal from office and is continuing to work.
"As an Arab citizen I think that this is the beginning of the end of Israel, God willing," Qusai al-Qaisi from Jordan says. "I don’t want to say that I’m happy but I’m really happy that this is happening there."
Protest organizers vow to step up efforts unless the legislation is stopped entirely. President Isaac Herzog hails announcement and calls the prime minister and Opposition leaders to begin negotiations immediately.
“When there’s an opportunity to avoid civil war through dialogue, I, as prime minister, am taking a timeout for dialogue," Netanyahu said in a nationally televised address.
"I agreed to remove the veto to reject the legislation in exchange for a commitment by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the legislation would be submitted to the Knesset for approval in the next session," National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said in a statement.
In light of Netanyahu's emerging decision to place the judicial overhaul on hold, infighting erupts between Likud and its Coalition allies in the Knesset, leading to the postponement of the announcement.
Netanyahu was poised to announce the decision Monday morning, although it was unclear if this was enough to placate the opposition to the controversial bills. Israel Hayom has learned that the bills could be reintroduced after Israel's Independence Day in late April.
Demonstrations took place in Tel Aviv, as well as Beersheba, Haifa and Jerusalem, where thousands of people gathered outside Netanyahu's private residence. Police scuffled with protesters and sprayed the crowd with a water cannon. Thousands then marched from the residence to the Knesset, Israel's parliament.