(Bloomberg) -- Israel’s Passover holiday week has been a deadly one filled with rocket barrages, enemy drones, drive-by shootings and a car-ramming, prompting a deeply divided society to agree on one thing: its enemies smell blood.

A surprising number of security experts, including some who served under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the past, say he’s to blame for the surge in violence — a direct result of his plans to overhaul the judiciary. The proposal, which would curb the power of the courts, has provoked mass protests and threats from elite reservists to rethink their volunteer service.

Israel’s foes are “rubbing their eyes in disbelief” and wondering if the country has “decided to die by suicide,” wrote retired Major General Amos Gilad, who headed the Defense Ministry’s influential political-military affairs bureau for more than a dozen years, eight of them under Netanyahu. 

Gilad’s comments follow a period of sustained air strikes between Israel and militant groups inside Syria, Lebanon and Palestinian territories. The fighting has also intensified a shadow war Israel is waging with arch-foe Iran, which has established a military and security presence in Syria to defend President Bashar Al-Assad and supports groups opposed to the existence of Israel.

“Even though Israel is at the height of its military, diplomatic, economic and strategic power, the perception of its power has diminished since the government’s announcement of the regime change,” Gilad said, using a derogatory term used by those who consider the judicial plan a power grab.

General Eliezer Shkedi, who headed the air force for four years, called the fracturing of Israeli society “more dangerous to us than any external threat,” and urged a halt to the judicial legislation. “Never, even in the direst situations, have I felt that our existence was under threat as I do now,” he told Yediot Ahronot newspaper.

On Monday night, Netanyahu pushed back, saying the fault lay with the previous government, and he’s coming to the rescue.

“Our country is under a terrorist assault,” he said at a press conference. But it “did not start now.”

Inviting Fire 

Netanyahu accused opposition leader Yair Lapid of inviting enemy fire when warning of national collapse due to the judicial overhaul. 

“Our enemies see this, they hear this,” he said. “They believe they can take us on, with combined terror from Lebanon, Syria and Gaza. But now it’s our watch, it’s our responsibility. It’s my responsibility.”

Netanyahu said the country would begin to notice an improvement soon. He also officially reinstated Defense Minister Yoav Gallant two weeks after firing him for urging a pause in the judicial legislation.

Netanyahu maintains that the courts system must be revamped because the judiciary has grown too powerful. He stopped the legislation so the sides can hold negotiations on a compromise. Most are skeptical that the talks will succeed, and Netanyahu repeated last night that a version of the overhaul will pass.

Read More: Israel’s Court Plan Is in Trouble as Pressure Rises on Netanyahu

The proposed revamp has provoked strong opposition, with objections coming from President Isaac Herzog, Nobel-winning economists, present and former Israeli central bankers and the powerful tech industry. Last week, Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron warned that in a worst-case scenario, the plan could cut economic growth by as much as 2.8% annually for three years.

Reservists, including pilots and members of elite intelligence and combat units, say the plan would undermine Israeli democracy, gut the judiciary and expose them to international charges for war crimes. Some threatened to skip training or service, though there were no reports of refusal during the latest outbreak of violence.

“Our enemies maybe see an opportunity because of what is happening inside Israel, but they understand completely that Israel’s capability is not to be messed with,” said the military’s chief spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari. 

Israel’s forces hit both in Gaza and Lebanon simultaneously, he said, and many of the pilots involved were reservists, proof they are willing to step up regardless of political divisions.

Lieutenant Colonel Elad Cinamon, who commands the air defense battalion that operates the Iron Dome anti-rocket system in Israel’s south, said in an interview that none of his forces skipped training, and when the call-up went out after recent rocket attacks, some who hadn’t been called showed up.  

Why Israel Is Bitterly Split by a Judiciary Overhaul: QuickTake

Still, words of alarm over security continue to ring out. Retired Major General Tamir Hayman, a former field commander and recently chief of military intelligence, said in an interview with the Zman Yisrael website that after Gallant was fired, he lost faith in Netanyahu.

“I do not trust the security judgment of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,” Hayman, who now runs a security affairs think tank in Tel Aviv, was quoted as saying.

The damage the plan has inflicted on Israel’s internal cohesion, economy and ties with the U.S. may be irreversible, he added.

“Two possibilities come to mind: first, Netanyahu is no longer rational, and then that explains everything,” he said. “Second, Netanyahu has something so important to advance that he is prepared to swallow everything — including political embarrassment, internal instability, economic crisis, and the deterioration of the security situation. When I look at the judicial revolution, it doesn’t justify the costs.”

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