JERUSALEM — The Israeli protection minister, Yoav Gallant, referred to as on Saturday evening for his authorities to droop its contentious plan to overtake the nation’s judiciary, arguing that the turmoil it has unleashed inside Israeli society and the army has grow to be a risk to Israel’s nationwide safety.

“The rift inside our society is widening and penetrating the Israel Protection Forces,” Mr. Gallant mentioned in a televised speech. He added: “This can be a clear and fast and tangible hazard to the safety of the state. I shall not be a celebration to this.”

Mr. Gallant’s announcement set the stage for what is anticipated to be some of the dramatic weeks in Israeli historical past. The far-right governing coalition of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which has a majority of simply 4 seats, is anticipated to carry a ultimate vote in Parliament early subsequent week on step one in its overhaul plan: a invoice that might give the federal government higher management over appointments to the Supreme Courtroom.

The federal government’s proposal has led to weeks of mass protests, which continued on Saturday evening; warnings of political violence and civil struggle; and unrest inside the army, significantly amongst reservists. Hundreds of reserve troopers have mentioned they might not report for volunteer responsibility if the overhaul goes forward, or have already withdrawn from service.

Mr. Gallant is the primary minister to interrupt ranks and name for a freeze to the laws. His intervention raised questions on whether or not sufficient like-minded governing lawmakers would now observe swimsuit and stop the legislation’s passage via Parliament. Two different governing lawmakers, David Bitan and Yuli Edelstein, swiftly tweeted their help for Mr. Gallant, and a handful of others had been additionally regarded as wavering.

Mr. Gallant and his backers, nonetheless, didn’t explicitly say they might vote towards the legislation in Parliament this week.

Most governing lawmakers are however firmly behind the proposal, which they are saying would bolster democracy by giving the elected authorities primacy over unelected judges. However critics concern the measure would blunt one in all Israel’s few checks on authorities overreach, doubtlessly paving the way in which for authoritarian rule.

The standoff has grow to be emblematic of a lot wider and older social rifts associated to the position of faith in public life, the primacy of the settler motion, and tensions between Jews of European and Center Japanese descent. Spiritual Jews and people with roots within the Center East really feel underrepresented in state establishments just like the Supreme Courtroom, which has traditionally been dominated by judges from secular and European backgrounds.

Mr. Gallant mentioned he was broadly supportive of reforming the judiciary however felt that the present proposals had proved too divisive and must be paused to permit for dialogue over the following month of spiritual and nationwide holidays.

“For the sake of Israel’s safety, for our daughters and sons, we should cease now the legislative course of at the moment — and permit the Israeli nation to have a good time Passover and Independence Day,” Mr. Gallant mentioned.

Mr. Gallant’s intervention got here after warnings by the army chief of employees, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, that the variety of reservists reporting for responsibility this month had fallen to some extent that the army was on the verge of decreasing the scope of sure operations.

The army excessive command can also be involved about the potential of resignations from full-time troopers.

The army has declined to make public a full accounting of the drop in reservists reporting for responsibility this month. However it confirmed that 200 reserve pilots — a major proportion of the Israeli Air Power’s pilots, although not a majority — signed a letter on Friday saying that, in protest on the judicial proposal, they might not report for responsibility for 2 weeks.

In contrast to in lots of different militaries, reservists are thought-about an essential a part of the Israel Protection Forces’ operational capability — significantly within the Air Power and intelligence models. Reserve pilots usually take part in strikes on Iran-linked targets in Syria, and officers say that any potential Israeli strike on Iran itself would require widespread participation from reservists.

Mr. Gallant warned Mr. Netanyahu of those issues on Thursday, and was on the verge of talking out that evening earlier than the prime minister persuaded him to delay his intervention.

A former naval commando, Mr. Gallant had confronted weeks of rising stress from former army colleagues to interrupt ranks. Crowds of former naval commandos have gathered outdoors his house in latest days to steer him to oppose the overhaul. Reserve pilots additionally texted his private cellphone each time one in all them skipped reserve responsibility.

Mr. Netanyahu didn’t instantly reply to Mr. Gallant’s speech on Saturday evening, and his workplace didn’t reply to requests for remark. The prime minister spent the weekend in London together with his spouse, Sara, after assembly the British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, on Friday morning.

As lately as Thursday evening, he had vowed to press forward with a ultimate vote on step one of the judicial overhaul.

There have been indicators, nonetheless, that Mr. Gallant’s name for a halt was gaining momentum amongst different reasonable members of Likud, the right-wing get together to which he and the prime minister belong. The Israeli information media reported that Avi Dichter, the agriculture minister and a former head of Israel’s home intelligence company, the Shin Wager, had privately backed Mr. Gallant’s proposal.

And Haim Bibas, the Likud mayor of the town of Modiin and the top of an influential umbrella group for all municipal authorities, issued a assertion in help of Mr. Gallant’s name to freeze laws.

However there was additionally livid criticism of Mr. Gallant from extra hard-line figures in Likud and its governing coalition. Mr. Netanyahu’s governing coalition consists of nationalist and ultra-Orthodox events to the suitable of Likud, which give him with a majority in Parliament.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, the nationwide safety minister and a member of the far-right Jewish Energy, referred to as for Mr. Gallant to resign, whereas Shlomo Karhi, the communications minister and a Likud member, mentioned Mr. Gallant had “surrendered” to leftist stress.

“The State of Israel is at a historic crossroads between democracy and dictatorship and its protection minister chooses dictatorship,” Mr. Karhi mentioned on social media, referring to the federal government argument that the judiciary is presently too highly effective.

Opposition leaders praised Mr. Gallant for talking out, and referred to as for Mr. Netanyahu to freeze the laws and enter formal negotiations with the opposition below mediation by the president, Isaac Herzog.

“Gallant is taking a courageous and very important step tonight for the safety of the State of Israel,” mentioned Yair Lapid, the chief of the opposition. “That is the second of reality. I name on the federal government: Cease the whole lot.”

“Come and maintain talks on the president’s residence,” Mr. Lapid added.

However it was unclear whether or not a freeze and a compromise would fulfill the grass-roots actions protesting the overhaul. Roughly 300,000 Israelis demonstrated throughout the nation on Saturday evening, in line with estimates within the Israeli information media — about 3 % of the entire inhabitants of roughly 9 million. Many had been attending for the twelfth weekend in succession.

In an announcement, an umbrella group that coordinates between protest leaders in numerous cities mentioned it might solely cease demonstrating if the overhaul was scrapped fully.

Carol Sutherland contributed reporting from Moshav Ben Ami, Israel, and Isabel Kershner from Jerusalem.