TEL AVIV
Legal turmoil grips Israel as Netanyahu faces growing protests
Israeli police push back people protesting against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government outside the Knesset, Israel's parliament in Jerusalem, Monday, March 31, 2025.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is currently ensnared in a deepening of political upheaval, exacerbated by a burgeoning corruption scandal entangling his close advisors and a contentious debate over the ousting of the intelligence agency’s chief.
The unrest, which has brought hundreds of thousands to the streets of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv for over a week, extends beyond demand for the release of hostages in Gaza. The events ratchet up political tensions in the country, where the government is trying to fire both the domestic security chief and attorney general, while expanding the power of politicians over the appointment of judges.
Netanyahu's office said on Tuesday he had reversed a decision to appoint former navy commander Vice Admiral Eli Sharvit as security agency chief following criticism, including from a key U.S. senator.
Netanyahu had announced Sharvit's appointment on March 31, pushing back against a supreme court decision to freeze his government's move to dismiss incumbent director Ronen Bar.
It later emerged that the former naval chief had publicly opposed key policies of the Netanyahu government and U.S. President Donald Trump.
The prime minister announced Bar's dismissal on March 21, citing an "ongoing lack of trust,” but the supreme court swiftly suspended the decision until April 8.
The move to dismiss him has sparked daily mass protests in Jerusalem, disrupting the city.
On March 31, hours after Sharvit's appointment was announced, reports began surfacing that he had been among tens of thousands of Israelis who took to the streets in 2023 to oppose the Netanyahu government's attempts to reform the judiciary.
Israeli media reports also recalled that Sharvit, who served in the military for 36 years, had supported a 2022 water agreement with Lebanon that Netanyahu had opposed.
It was also revealed that the nominee had penned an opinion piece criticizing the U.S. president's policies on climate change, prompting staunch Trump ally, Senator Lindsey Graham, to criticize his appointment in a post on X.
Sharvit's criticism of the U.S. president was published by Israeli financial newspaper Calcalist on January 23 under the headline: "Not just a political mistake: Trump is pushing the earth to the abyss."
Israeli opposition leaders have warned that if the top court overturns Bar's dismissal, the country could face a constitutional crisis.
Aides ‘held hostage’: Netanyahu
Netanyahu also testified in a probe involving alleged payments from Qatar to some of his aides, slamming the investigation as politically motivated and denouncing the arrest of two of his aides.
"As soon as I was asked to testify, I said that I was free and that I wanted to testify immediately," he said in a video statement.
"I understood that it was a political investigation, but I didn't realize how political it was, and they are holding Yonatan Urich and Eli Feldstein hostage... There is no case, there is absolutely nothing, just a political witch hunt, nothing else," he added.
In the video statement, Netanyahu said the probe, dubbed Qatargate by local media, was aimed at "preventing the dismissal" of internal security chief.
Earlier this month, the Shin Bet security agency announced it had started investigating Netanyahu's aides in relation to the Qatar case, barring the publication of any details.
On March 31 night, anti-government demonstrators again joined a protest outside parliament, mocking Netanyahu and calling for an end to the Gaza war and a deal to release hostages still held by militants there.