Netanyahu Warns Coalition That Defence Minister Might Quit Over Judicial Overhaul

The Times of Israel reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned his coalition overnight that Defence Minister Yoav Gallant could step down if the government does not soften its contentious proposals for a judicial overhaul.

• The news website cites circulated by Channel 12 and Ynet, which suggested that "Gallant had warned Netanyahu in recent weeks of increasingly worrying trends in the military and the security establishment, where numerous top officers in the reserves have threatened to stop showing up for service."
• This comes after opposition leaders rejected the government's initial offer to delay the passage of most of the bills constituting the judicial overhaul until after the Passover holiday to allow for negotiations. Yair Lapid and Avigdor Liberman told their parliamentary factions that they do not believe the government is seeking talks with the opposition in good faith.
• In another sign of tension within the governing camp, far-right lawmaker Avi Maoz said that "this week [he] won’t vote with the coalition," albeit he also said that he would not vote to unseat the ruling administration. Maoz quit government three weeks ago accusing Netanyahu of breaking the terms of a coalition agreement with his Noam party, which has just one representative in the Knesset.