Mass protests in Israel after Netanyahu ousts defense minister opposed to judicial overhaul

Protesters in Tel Aviv on Sunday night.
(Image credit: Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, on Sunday, after Gallant called on him to drop a proposed overhaul of the country's judicial system.

Israel's right-wing government is proposing changing the way the country's Supreme Court judges are picked, giving appointees and representatives of the government an automatic majority on the committee. This would "effectively [allow] the government to choose the judges," The New York Times writes. Additionally, the parliament would be able to override the Supreme Court's ability to strike down laws it deems unconstitutional.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.