Yoav Gallant had called the plan to change Israel's justice system an "immediate and tangible danger" to state security. Photo: AFP
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has been sacked by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after calling for the scrapping of controversial plans to overhaul the justice system.
Netanyahu summoned Gallant to a meeting and told him he no longer had faith in him as defence minister.
The plan to limit the powers of the judiciary has led to months of public protests.
Gallant had called the plan an "immediate and tangible danger" to state security.
In a brief televised statement on Saturday night, Gallant said members of the Israeli Defence Forces were angry and disappointed, with an intensity he had never seen before.
Shortly after his dismissal a day later, Gallant wrote on Twitter: "The state of Israel's security has always been and will always be my life's mission."
The defence minister had won the backing of some fellow members of Netanyahu's Likud party, but others on the far right had called for him to go.
Far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir supported Netanyahu's move, saying," The prime minister decided on the necessary step and I congratulate him for that."
The plan includes enabling parliament to overrule decisions made by the Supreme Court - a move that critics say will undermine the independence of the judiciary and could be used for political ends.
But Netanyahu says the reforms are designed to stop the courts overreaching their powers and that they were voted for by the public at the last election.
Protests against the changes to the legal system continued on Sunday night, with demonstrators blocking a major road in Tel Aviv.
Protests have been taking place across Israel for weeks. Photo: AFP / Gil Cohen-Magen
Tens of thousands of protesters returned to the streets.
In Jerusalem, police and soldiers used water cannon against demonstrators near Netanyahu's house.
The leaders of the protest accuse Netanyahu of behaving like a dictator and destroying the security of Israel.
The new law makes it harder for courts to remove a leader deemed unfit for office, which has angered many who consider it in the interests of Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption.
Israel's opposition leader Yair Lapid described Gallant's sacking as "a new low" for the government.
"Netanyahu can fire Gallant, but he can't fire reality or fire the people of Israel who are fronting up to resist the coalition's madness," Lapid added.
Former defence minister Benny Gantz praised Gallant, who he said had put the security of the country above all interests.
- BBC
