2023 in Israel

On January 4, 2023 — days after the Netanyahu-led coalition was sworn in — Justice Minister Yariv Levin presented a comprehensive plan to restructure the relationship between Israel's elected government and its judiciary.[1][2] The proposal had four principal components: abolishing or restricting the courts' use of the "reasonableness" criterion in reviewing government decisions; enabling the Knesset to override Supreme Court decisions by a simple majority; changing the composition of the Judicial Selection Committee so that the elected government would control judicial appointments; and reducing the attorney general's office to an advisory role, with its legal opinions no longer binding on government ministries.[3] Additional elements included regulating judicial review of laws and changing the role of legal advisers inside government ministries.[4]

Within days, the proposals ignited a national controversy. Supporters argued the changes would correct an imbalance of power and make the judiciary more responsive to elected leaders.[5] Opponents contended the reforms would concentrate authority in the executive and weaken checks on government power, threatening judicial independence and civil liberties.[5] The first demonstrations against the plan took place on January 7 in Tel Aviv and Haifa and spread nationwide in the weeks that followed.[4] On January 14, 80,000 people gathered in pouring Saturday-night rain in Tel Aviv in what became known as the "protest of the umbrellas," the opening salvo of a sustained weekly movement.[3] Later crowds at individual demonstrations were reported at 100,000, 150,000, and 200,000 participants.[3]

President Isaac Herzog called on the government in February to freeze the legislation and open negotiations with the opposition.[4] Despite that appeal, the Knesset's Constitution, Law and Justice Committee advanced bills concerning the judicial selection committee. Tensions reached a peak in March: Defense Minister Yoav Gallant publicly warned of an immediate security danger arising from the dispute, with reservists threatening to refuse duty.[4] After Prime Minister Netanyahu announced Gallant's dismissal on March 26, mass protests erupted. The Histadrut labor federation announced a general strike the following day, and Netanyahu announced the legislation would be postponed until the Knesset's next session while the government sought broader agreement.[4]

The episode reflected deeper fault lines. An INSS analysis situates the crisis in longstanding social and political divisions rather than in the immediate legal dispute alone, describing the overhaul as a struggle over Israeli identity, democratic values, and the future character of the state.[1] In April, Moody's changed Israel's economic outlook from "positive" to "stable," citing concerns about governance and the attempt to implement wide-ranging reform without broad consensus — pointing, in the agency's words, to "a weakening of institutional strength and policy predictability."[2] A large counter-demonstration by coalition supporters on April 27 drew an estimated 150,000 participants.[1]

By summer, the government had narrowed its immediate legislative ambitions. Rather than advancing the entire reform package simultaneously, it brought forward a single measure: an amendment to Basic Law: The Judiciary barring courts from hearing petitions or ruling against the government, the prime minister, or a government minister on the ground that a decision was "extremely unreasonable."[5] The reasonableness standard, rooted in common law, had previously allowed courts to assess whether government action was reasonable; its removal was presented by the coalition as correcting judicial overreach and by opponents as stripping a core safeguard against governmental abuse.[6]

The Knesset passed the amendment on July 24 by a vote of 64–0.[6][7] The result reflected a parliamentary boycott: opposition members walked out of the chamber rather than participate in the vote.[7] Justice Minister Levin declared it the first step in a historic process to reform the judicial system; opposition leader Yair Lapid argued it would weaken Israel, its people, and the IDF.[7]

The week before the vote produced the protest movement's most dramatic moment of institutional pressure. More than 1,100 Israeli Air Force personnel — including roughly half described as pilots — and more than 10,000 other reservists from intelligence, cyber, and commando units announced they would refuse voluntary reserve duty if the measure passed.[6] The IDF chief of staff warned publicly that a breakdown in military cohesion would endanger the country, though the precise number of reservists who had already stopped reporting remained unclear.[6]

The Supreme Court convened a full 15-justice panel on September 12 to hear constitutional challenges to the amendment.[5][5] The hearing was historically significant; a ruling had not yet been issued by year's end.[5] Weekly mass demonstrations against the overhaul continued from January through September, according to the U.S. State Department, drawing hundreds of thousands of participants at their peak.[8] The protest movement, characterized by the Washington Institute as the largest grassroots opposition movement in Israel's history, came to an abrupt halt after October 7.[6][5]

Before the catastrophic events of October, Israel fought a significant five-day military escalation with Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in May. After PIJ fired approximately 100 rockets toward Israel on May 2 — ostensibly in response to the death in an Israeli prison of PIJ activist Khader Adnan following a hunger strike — Israel launched Operation Shield and Arrow on May 9.[9]

Israel's opening strikes targeted three senior PIJ commanders in Gaza.[9] Over the 116-hour operation, the IDF struck more than 700 targets and said it killed more than two dozen strategic PIJ operatives.[2] A total of 1,469 rockets were fired toward Israel during the operation; Iron Dome intercepted 437, and two rockets aimed at Tel Aviv were intercepted by the David's Sling system.[9] On the Israeli side, an 80-year-old woman, Inga Avramyan, was killed in Rehovot, and a Palestinian laborer from Gaza, Abdullah Abu Jaba, also died.[9] Palestinian deaths during the fighting numbered 33, including 11 civilians.[9] Egypt, Qatar, the United Nations, and the United States all participated in mediation, and a ceasefire took effect on May 13.[9]

At 6:29 a.m. on Saturday, October 7 — the Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah — Hamas launched the deadliest terrorist attack in Israel's history.[5][10] The assault began on multiple axes: Britannica reported an initial barrage of at least 2,200 rockets fired in approximately 20 minutes, combined with a ground infiltration across the Gaza security fence.[11] The State Department report records that attackers breached the fence by land and air, struck military bases, and entered civilian communities while more than 3,000 rockets were launched that day.[8] Some 4,299 rocket alerts sounded across Israel over the course of the day.[10]

Approximately 3,000 armed Hamas and PIJ terrorists crossed into Israeli territory.[10] They penetrated 31 communities in southern Israel, the site of the Nova music festival near Kibbutz Re'im, and multiple IDF bases.[10] The attacks on civilian communities involved the killing of residents in their homes, mass murders at safe rooms, and the targeting of a large outdoor music event. A November 2023 N12 timeline reported that at least 270 people had been killed at the Nova festival.[10]

The death toll from the attack was revised as victims were identified. Early reports cited more than 1,400 killed; as bodies of terrorists were excluded and unidentified remains were processed, the figure settled at approximately 1,200.[12] A revised count from the Jewish Virtual Library gives a toll of 1,195: 778 civilians, 282 IDF soldiers, 57 Israel Police officers, and 38 local security officers.[13] An estimated 253 people were abducted and taken to Gaza, including civilians and soldiers of various ages; approved sources report totals between 250 and 253, reflecting different reporting and accounting dates.[8][14]

The government's official statement on October 8 declared: "The war that was forced on the State of Israel in a murderous terrorist assault from the Gaza Strip began at 06:00 yesterday (Saturday, 7 October 2023)."[15] Encyclopaedia Britannica characterizes the day as the deadliest for Israel since its independence.[11] The National Library of Israel subsequently documented the events in an archive of approximately 44 terabytes of material harvested from around 1,500 internet addresses.[16]

Evidence gathered in the aftermath documented attacks on civilians including sexual assault and sexual mutilation.[8] Israel officially declared war on Hamas on October 8.[5]

On October 7, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared a special home-front situation in the Gaza border region at 8:00 a.m. and expanded it to the entire country at 8:00 p.m.[15] Israel mobilized approximately 350,000 reservists in the days following the attack.[14] The IDF began aerial strikes against Hamas targets in Gaza on October 7, and a "complete siege" of the territory was ordered on October 9.[17]

On October 11 — the fifth day of the war — Prime Minister Netanyahu and opposition leader Benny Gantz announced a national emergency government.[10] Ministers from Gantz's party joined the government, and a war-management cabinet was formed to direct the military effort.[15] Their agreement stipulated that the war effort would be the government's primary function and that unrelated legislation, including judicial-overhaul legislation, would not advance during the conflict.[18]

The IDF launched its ground operation in Gaza on October 27, involving armored, infantry, and engineering forces supported by the air force.[10] The Israeli government set two stated objectives: the return of the hostages and degrading or destroying Hamas so that security could be restored along the Israel–Gaza border.[14]

The first hostages were freed in late October through separate channels. Judith and Natalie Raanan were released on October 20, and Yocheved Lifshitz and Nurit Cooper on October 23, with the ADL attributing these releases to Qatari mediation.[14] Sources date the IDF and Shin Bet rescue of soldier Ori Megidish to October 29 or 30; she had been held in Gaza for 24 days.[14][10] By October 9, an estimated 126,000 Israelis had already been evacuated from their homes, with roughly 250,000 residents of southern and northern border areas displaced — some voluntarily and some under official evacuation orders.[10]

The war simultaneously drew fire from Israel's northern border. Hezbollah began launching rockets and artillery at Israeli positions on October 8, stating it was acting in solidarity with Hamas.[10] By late October, Hezbollah had conducted 133 documented attacks along the northern border, killing ten Israelis including soldiers.[10] The Houthis in Yemen launched four missile and drone attacks toward Eilat by October 31, all intercepted outside Israeli territory.[10] On October 16, Israel activated a plan to evacuate 28 communities near the Lebanese border following Hezbollah antitank missile fire.[10] Palestinian terrorist groups in Lebanon also fired munitions into Israel, with Israeli civilian deaths from Hezbollah antitank missiles recorded in Yiftah and Kiryat Shmona on November 5.[5]

Through international mediation, Israel and Hamas reached an agreement in November for a temporary pause in fighting and an exchange of hostages and prisoners.[5] As of early November, Israel estimated 239 hostages were held in Gaza, including 38 aged 18 or younger and ten younger than six.[12]

A six-day pause in hostilities began on November 24.[2] Over the course of the ceasefire, 105 hostages — mostly women and children — were released in stages, in exchange for approximately 240 Palestinian prisoners and detainees held in Israeli prisons.[14][5] Britannica gives a broader total of 110 hostages released during the pause, reflecting a different accounting of the releases.[17] The ceasefire expired in early December and combat resumed.[14]

At the end of 2023, 136 Israelis and foreign nationals remained held in Gaza: 132 abducted on October 7 and four held in Gaza before that date.[5] The hostages' exact whereabouts were unknown, and at least 23 were believed to have died in captivity.[5]

The dual-front conflict caused massive displacement inside Israel. National Emergency Authority data cited by the State Department recorded 253,000 Israeli residents displaced because of the October 7 attack, the Israel-Hamas war, and the fighting along the northern border with Hezbollah.[8] The IDF began evacuating communities near the Gaza border on the morning of October 7 itself.[5]

Local-government elections originally scheduled for October 31 were postponed by the Knesset to February 2024 because of the escalation.[8] Elections in 14 communities that had been evacuated since the war began were postponed further, affecting approximately 125,000 citizens and residents; those communities' elections were not to take place until at least 150 days after a government decision permitting evacuees to return.[8]

By the end of 2023, Israel's military campaign in Gaza had, according to the State Department, killed more than 21,000 Palestinians and injured more than 56,000, while displacing the vast majority of Gaza's population and creating a severe humanitarian crisis.[8] The Bank of Israel's economic analysis documents the operational scale on the Israeli side: construction sites in Gaza-adjacent and northern areas were closed, agricultural activity in the Gaza-envelope region was severely restricted, and flights were largely canceled in the weeks following October 7.[19]

The judicial crisis left measurable economic marks even before October 7. The Tel Aviv 125 Index fell approximately 9 percent in the first quarter of 2023, while comparable U.S. and European indexes rose by 6 and 7 percent respectively.[1] The shekel declined roughly 5 percent against the U.S. dollar between the November 2022 election and the end of May 2023.[1]

For the full year, Israel's economy grew by 2.0 percent, compared with 6.5 percent in 2022.[19][20] GDP per capita fell by 0.1 percent, reflecting a year in which population grew while per-capita output contracted.[20] The Bank of Israel reported that GDP had expanded at a 3.8 percent pace through the first three quarters of the year before the October 7 attack and the ensuing war caused a fourth-quarter contraction of 5.6 percent — equivalent to a 20.7 percent annualized rate.[19] Investment fell 70 percent in the fourth quarter, private consumption fell 27 percent, and public consumption fell almost 90 percent.[20]

Public spending partly offset the collapse: government expenditure rose 8.3 percent for the year, driven primarily by war costs.[20] The updated 2023 state budget added approximately NIS 30 billion for defense and civilian spending beyond internal budget adjustments, producing a budget deficit of 4.2 percent of GDP against a prewar expectation of below 2 percent.[21]

The war disrupted multiple economic sectors simultaneously. About 8 percent of the labor force — mainly men aged 21 to 45 — was called up to the reserves, affecting industry, high technology, and agriculture.[21] Construction activity fell by 50 percent in the wartime quarter; construction had represented around 6 percent of GDP before the war.[19] Approximately 100,000 Palestinian laborers were barred from entering Israel, and some 15,000 foreign workers returned home, producing acute labor shortages, particularly in construction.[21] Inbound tourist arrivals fell 80 percent in the quarter and tourism export revenues fell 62.5 percent.[19] Schools in central and southern Israel were closed for much of October, further limiting workers' ability to participate in the labor market.[19]

Reservists represented 5 percent of employed Israelis of main working age, and many remained mobilized without discharge by year's end.[19]

Outside the judicial and security crises, several significant events marked the year. In March, Israel launched the Ofek-13 spy satellite, and Azerbaijan opened an embassy in Tel Aviv.[2] In August, Tel Aviv inaugurated the Red Line light rail, connecting Petah Tikva, Bnei Brak, Ramat Gan, Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and Bat Yam.[2] In September, Israel was accepted into the U.S. Visa Waiver Program, allowing Israelis to travel to the United States for stays of up to 90 days without a visa.[2]

Civil society mobilized extensively in response to the October 7 attack, organizing assistance for evacuees and soldiers.[10] The protest organization Brothers in Arms — a central body in the anti-judicial-overhaul movement — suspended its protest activity and established a civilian aid command center.[10] The INSS year-end reflection singled out the wave of volunteer activity and social solidarity as a defining feature of Israeli society's response to the worst crisis in a generation.[22]

After October 7, the protest landscape changed sharply. The weekly demonstrations against the judicial overhaul ended immediately.[5] Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai announced "zero tolerance" toward protests expressing solidarity with Gaza on October 17; nonetheless, a Hadash Arab-Jewish ceasefire demonstration was held in Tel Aviv on November 18 after police had initially rejected the permit request.[5]

Israel's population reached 9.842 million at the end of 2023, up 1.9 percent from the previous year.[23] The composition was approximately 7.208 million Jewish (73.2 percent), 2.080 million Arab (21.1 percent), and 554,000 others (5.7 percent).[23] The year recorded approximately 179,000 births and 49,500 deaths.[23]

Immigration fell sharply compared with 2022, when around 73,000 people had moved to Israel — a figure inflated partly by refugees from the Russia-Ukraine war.[24] In 2023, approximately 45,000 people immigrated to Israel, with three-quarters coming from Russia and Ukraine.[23] The decline accelerated after October 7: 1,163 people moved to Israel in October compared with 2,364 in September.[24] Births accounted for 72 percent of population growth and immigration for 28 percent.[23]

INSS's year-end reflection described 2023 as one of the most difficult periods in Israel's history.[22] Its authors suggested that Israel's internal weakening had heightened security threats and may have tempted its enemies to challenge the country's deterrence. They also argued that the October 7 attack shattered confidence in Israel's intelligence services, military deterrence, and border security — institutions whose credibility had underpinned the country's strategic posture for decades.[22]

At the same time, the mobilization of approximately 350,000 reservists and the breadth of voluntary civilian assistance represented what INSS characterized as an extraordinary expression of national cohesion under extreme pressure.[14][22] The emergency-government agreement provided that unrelated legislation, including judicial-overhaul legislation, would not advance during the conflict, though the underlying constitutional dispute remained unresolved.[18] The Supreme Court's full-panel hearing of the reasonableness amendment challenge on September 12 stood as an unresolved constitutional moment at year's end.[5]

The West Bank — known by its original, indigenous Jewish name of Judea and Samaria — also saw elevated violence throughout the year. Before October 7, the State Department report, citing UNOCHA data, records 30 Israelis killed by Palestinians in attacks from January 1 through October 6, and notes 199 Palestinians killed in Judea and Samaria and 34 in Gaza by Israelis during the same pre-October 7 period.[8]

The domestic constitutional crisis, the May operation against PIJ, the October 7 massacre, and the ensuing war together marked a profound rupture in Israeli politics, security, and society. The INSS assessment, written from within the crisis, concluded with cautious hope: "Israel did not collapse, Israeli society did not disintegrate."[22]

Accounts of 2023 reflect both evolving information and differing analytical perspectives. Early reports placed the October 7 death toll above 1,400, but later identification work reduced it to approximately 1,200; one subsequent compilation gives 1,195.[12][13] Approved sources likewise report between 250 and 253 abductees and either 105 or 110 hostages released during the November pause, depending on reporting dates and counting methods.[14][5]

Interpretations of the judicial crisis also differ. INSS presents it as an expression of longstanding disputes over identity, political power, and Israel's democratic character, while the Washington Institute emphasizes the scale of the opposition movement and the potential consequences for military readiness and relations with the United States.[1][6] These analyses document competing interpretations rather than resolving the political dispute.