An Israeli politician and prominent activist has suggested that Israel is heading to a “very deep constitutional crisis” and a possible collapse of the entire regime as a result of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies.

"The division in Israel is not related to the Palestinians,” Moshe Raz, a former Knesset member from the left-wing Meretz Party, told Anadolu in an interview.

"The split is between Netanyahu's supporters, who support everything he does to weaken democracy, promote corruption, and violate people's rights, and his opponents, whose lack of sufficient resistance against the (Israeli) occupation I’m not satisfied with."

“This is the main issue in Israel. This is the battle,” Raz said. “Israel has never seen demonstrations of this magnitude before.”

Mass protests erupted across Israel in recent days against the government’s decision to fire the Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and withdraw confidence from Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, moves widely seen as attempts to consolidate Netanyahu’s control over state institutions.

Protesters also demanded a halt to Israeli air strikes on Gaza to avoid endangering the lives of Israeli hostages

“Half of the nation rejects the protests, and the other half supports them. It is perilous. It is not healthy," Raz said.

Regime collapse

The Israeli politician, however, ruled out that Israel was heading to a civil war.

"I don't think we will witness a civil war, but a portion of the Israeli right will violently attack Palestinians and Israelis, and that is very dangerous. However, I don't see most of the right joining the attack on Israelis."

Raz suggested that Israel is heading to a constitutional crisis.

"If the Supreme Court refuses to dismiss the head of a security agency and the government attempts to dismiss him, we will enter a very deep constitutional crisis."

Israel's Supreme Court is set to review petitions challenging the government’s dismissal of the Shin Bet chief on April 8.

On Tuesday, the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) passed the 2025 state budget, in a major victory for Netanyahu’s government.

The Israeli government had to pass the budget before the end of March, or it would collapse automatically and go to early elections.

The budget passage "likely means that there will be no (early) elections in 2025,” Raz said.