Netanyahu’s Likud vs. Israel’s judicial system
For Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin the time has come for a last, decisive duel against the High Court.
About a decade ago, when Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin was still a new Likud Knesset member, he created big headaches for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
As a jurist by profession and a diligent member of the Knesset, Levin was the Likud's most energetic member in the struggle to limit the powers of Israel’s Supreme Court. At the base of his agenda was the claim that a small, left-wing minority had taken control of the Supreme Court and was trying to impose its left-wing values on the entire society. Levin, together with other Knesset members, tried to introduce new laws aimed at limiting the powers of the justices of the High Court. But ultimately it was Netanyahu himself who blocked these initiatives from behind the scenes.
Levin now serves as Knesset speaker, and is one of the most popular and high-ranking of the Likud members. He is also a politician held in high esteem by the prime minister. Ever since Netanyahu was faced with legal entanglements, he has stopped preventing Levin from excoriating the legal system and the High Court, and has even adopted the same worldview himself.
The Knesset speaker holds one of the most powerful, high-status positions in Israel’s government; in fact, it is viewed as one of the symbols of office — a government icon. This, however, has not caused Levin to curb his declarations. In fact, the opposite is true.
