Israel Puts Judicial Reforms On Hold After Mass Protests

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu came under intense pressure as weeks of demonstrations culminated in a threat to strike by 800,000 workers, closing airports and embassies

- Chris Stevenson & Mustafa Javid Qadri

Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced a delay to controversial judicial reforms in the wake of mass protests across the country. "When there's an opportunity to avoid civil war through dialogue, I, as prime minister, am taking a timeout for dialogue," Mr Netanyahu said in a nationally televised address.

Striking a more conciliatory tone than in previous statements about the plan, he said he was determined to pass legislation to overhaul the judiciary but called for "an attempt to achieve broad consensus".

Having faced weeks of protest over the reforms, Mr Netanyahu has come under extreme pressure to act in the past 48 hours.

Tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrated outside the Knesset (Israel's parliament) yesterday, while workers launched a nationwide strike aimed at halting the reforms.

Departing flights from the country's main international airport were grounded in Tel Aviv, and universities shut their doors after Israel's largest trade union, the Histadrut, called for its 800,000 members to stop work. Diplomats also walked off the job at embassies. In the wake of the announcement by Mr Netanyahu, the strike action - which had threatened to grind the country's economy to a halt - was called off.

Some protest leaders said demonstrations would continue despite the announcement. Dr Shikma Bressler, one of the main leaders of the movement, said: "The statements of the prime minister and his extremist partners are an admission of their intention to bring the dictatorship laws back to the table in the next parliamentary session, harming the economy and the security of the country. As long as the legislation continues and is not shelved, we will be on the streets."