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Levin is more extreme, Smotrich is more dangerous: who is better in the battle for the Ministry of Justice? - Walla! news

2022-11-17T12:41:06.764Z


Netanyahu's associate may be more extreme in his views, and there is a fear that he will act without saying much, but he is nevertheless a stately man who derives his ideology from Jabotinsky's Beitarian glory. The war of the chairman of religious Zionism, on the other hand, is religious, and he will reach the office with a systematic plan to destroy the rule of law


On video: the Ministry of Justice conference in Eilat against the background of the calls for reforms in the legal system (Photo: Leam)

The coalition parties and their representatives have turned the "overcoming clause" into a currency of political language almost as popular as "Jerusalem is united, the capital of Israel forever and ever."

The politicians compete with each other as to who will mention the magic paragraph louder and more decisively.

Hearing the mantras about the "necessary reform of the judicial system", it seems that the Netanyahu bloc has located the stick that is jamming the wheel of the Zionist factory, and found the device that will pull out this damned stick.

The overcoming paragraph of course;

She is the one who will bring us all the expected redemption that has been delayed for years by the nasty judges and legal advisors.



These are no longer just Bezalel Smotrich and David Amsalem;

Rabbi Moshe Gafni in a rare and overwhelming performance, with a spodik adorning his head (Lithuanians do not wear a spodik, but Gafni turns out to have roots in Gor Hasidism), shouted that "without a passage of empowerment, no government will be formed."

In the coming days we will know if the miracle formula will already appear in the coalition agreements that will blow us all away, or if it will remain vague as it is now.

Another enigma is who will be the operator, the operator, of this wonderful act of Zionist redemption - who will be the next Minister of Justice.

Calls Aaron Barak "one of the destroyers of the State of Israel."

Bezalel Smotrich at the swearing in of the Knesset, November 15, 2022 (Photo: Reuven Castro)

The identity of the next Minister of Justice is critical to the success of the plan to destroy the justice system, and therefore the drafts of the coalition agreements and the basic guidelines of the next government are also critical.

The more specific they are, the less discretion they will leave with the incoming justice minister.

The broader and vaguer they are, the greater his ability to shape the reforms in question will be.

In this political puzzle, it is not clear who will end up with this prize, or this trouble, but for the sake of discussion right now let's focus on the most prominent potential names: Yariv Levin, Bezalel Smotrich, David Amsalem and Amir Ohana.



Let's start with the two who are currently given less chances to get the job: Ohana and Amsalem.

Ohana has already held the position as an acting representative and has not exactly left a mark, not even for the agenda he represents.

It is true that he was in office during a transitional government, but even under these limitations he could have produced more action than the noise, the ringing, the ridiculous appointments that failed (Advocate Orli Ben Ari as the head of the state attorney's office) and the ridiculous conspiratorial speech known as "the speech of the attorney's office within the attorney's office" ".



Furthermore, Ohana was a failed minister in the Ministry of Internal Security and over his head hovers a warning letter from the state investigation committee regarding the Miron disaster.

It seems at the moment that Netanyahu intends to take advantage of Ohana's skills in other, representative directions - Speaker of the Knesset, or Minister of Foreign Affairs - it seems to be better for everyone. MK David Amsalem stated that if he does not receive the justice file, he will not enter the government, after detailing in an interview Comprehensive for Ovadia's thresholds and Lior Kenan for the extreme agendas he is planning (mostly similar to Smotrich's plan of destruction).

I am not expanding on this matter at the moment out of an assumption, perhaps mistaken, that despite Amsalem's dire threat that the Israeli people will lose him as a minister in the government, Netanyahu will not choose Amsalem for the position of Minister of Justice.

More in Walla!

The election promise that will change the judicial system: what is the overcoming clause?

To the full article

Ridiculous appointments and conspiratorial speech.

David Amsalem (Photo: Flash 90, Yonatan Zindel)

We are left with those who currently seem to be the main candidates for the position: Yariv Levin and Bezalel Smotrich.

Apparently, both hold very extreme views on the legal system, but they are still very different from each other, and it is worth dwelling on that for a moment.

Senior officials in the Judiciary and the Ministry of Justice usually say in private conversations that despite Smotrich's angry texts, they prefer him to Levin.

According to them, it is precisely Levin's quiet waters, and his close familiarity with the system (Levin worked as a lawyer and was active in the Bar Association for years) that scares them more than Smotrich's shouts and statements.

They fear that Levin won't talk much, won't brag loudly, just come and act.

In my opinion they are wrong.



True, if you compare Levin's statements over the years with those of Smotritz, you will find that in practice Levin's positions are more extreme.

If Levin was the one who had to decide, he would have determined that the enhancement clause was unnecessary.

For those who have forgotten, after the High Court ordered the Knesset Speaker who preceded Levin, Yuli Edelstein, to convene the plenum to elect a new speaker under him, it was Levin who persuaded Edelstein to refuse, saying: "If President Hayut wants to put herself above the Knesset, she You are welcome to come to the building with the court guard." In Levin's view, the High Court of Justice is acting without authority, so at most it would have enshrined this lack of authority in legislation, so that there would be no misunderstandings.

The superseding clause, on the other hand, will limit the power of the Supreme Court in annulling laws, but on the other hand, for the first time in history, it will enshrine in law the authority of the court to annul laws - an authority that has not been enshrined in law to date.



Still, in Levin, unlike Smotrich, there are some built-in dissonances.

Faced with his very extreme statements against the Supreme Court ("an extreme leftist group that tries to dictate to society as a whole"), he is a man of compromises.

Not for nothing, he is the man sent time and time again by Netanyahu to conduct negotiations with coalition partners. Everyone who knows Levin testifies that he is a very practical man, and here comes the interesting part: Levin does not really want to be the Minister of Justice. In fact, Ohana was appointed at the time for the position (after the dismissal of Ayelet Shaked), after Levin received the initial right of refusal.

A failed minister in the Ministry of Internal Security.

Amir Ohana (Photo: Reuven Castro)

Levin's explanation was that he would not be able to promote reforms anyway, therefore he is not interested in the position.

So there was logic in his words, as the government was a transitional government with very limited powers.

What, then, is the explanation now for evading the position?, or as Jonathan Geffen once asked, with a slight variation: "What do you have Mr. Levin? Nobody understands."

Seemingly this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to bring about the revolution you dreamed of.

Who gives up such an opportunity?

According to Levin's associates, even today he uses the same argument: "They won't let me make the revolution I want."

I'm sorry, I don't believe this explanation, so with your permission I'll turn to the areas of psychology in my dime:



It is true, Levin is an ideologue who believes that the former president of the Supreme Court, the creator of the constitutional revolution, Aharon Barak, caused tremendous damage to the balance between the three branches of government, and yet, Levin is not the man who, in his opinion, will go up against the Supreme Court with D9 to repair this damage .

Levin is the scion of a revisionist Beitar family; his godfather at circumcision was Menachem Begin, the same Begin who said: "There are judges in Jerusalem", the same Begin who described the Supreme Court as the last bastion of Israeli democracy.



Levin understands very well that a quick and aggressive realization of his extreme vision will cause destruction and not growth.

Just as he will not seek to conquer Amman now, even though Jabotinsky wrote: "Two banks to the Jordan, one is ours, this one is as well."

Beyond that, he also knows very well that if it weren't for the criminal investigations, Netanyahu would not be with him;

He knows very well that the former Netanyahu blocked him several times with his body from carrying out reforms in the judicial system;

He knows that Netanyahu will do what is best for Netanyahu.

Therefore, Levin does not want to be in this tension, and if he had a better option, he would certainly prefer it over the legal case.

If he is still destined to be there, in Salah al-Din, he will of course try to promote his reforms, but while engaging in dialogue with the professional bodies and in-depth study of the field.

Where he recognizes that the reform will produce more destruction than benefit - he will withdraw.

Levine certainly seems a determined man, but not quite an adventurer.

Godmother's child of Menachem Begin.

Yariv Levin (Photo: Reuven Castro)

Even if I overemphasized Levin's conciliatory qualities, the Smotrician alternative is much more dangerous.

Smotrich does not derive his ideology from Jabotinsky's Beitari glory, but from extreme religious concepts. While Levin sees the Supreme Court as activist, as one that harms the balance between the three authorities, Smotrich sees the Supreme Court as one that threatens the supremacy of Torah and Halacha law Smotrich is anxious that the democratic state will defeat the Jewish state. This is his real war. An ultra-Orthodox war.



If Levin is furious, angry, at Aharon Barak, then Smotrich hates him.

He calls Barak: "one of the destroyers of the State of Israel."

On the day of the death of the former President of the Supreme Court, Miriam Naor, it was important for him to eulogize her with the words: "She destroyed a magnificent institution."

Smotrich is not really interested in statecraft, while Levin is, especially after he already served as Knesset Speaker. Levin is very far from the animal parades led by Smotrich and never declared himself, like Smotrich, to be a "proud homophobe."



It can also be assumed that Levin He will not accuse the Shin Bet of encouraging Rabin's murder.

Unlike Levin, Smotrich will arrive at the Ministry of Justice with a systematic work plan to destroy the justice system and the rule of law that he presented to the public;

If he does not realize at least half of it, he will be seen as a failure in the eyes of his voters.

He can't afford to take prisoners.

Levin, on the other hand, did not present a platform of destruction before the elections, therefore he will be more open to compromises and the use of logic.



Both options do bode ill for the Israeli rule of law, but while Smotritz wants to rush to Givat Ram with his famous bulldozers and fuel tanks at their side, Levin will try to seek broad support for his initiatives both outside the system and within it.

Therefore, if I am forced to choose which of the two will cause less destruction (and unfortunately no one will really force me to do this), I will still choose Levin.



Baruch Kara is the legal commentator of News 13

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  • Bezalel Smotrich

  • Rival Levin

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  • Amir Ohana

  • The overcoming paragraph

Source: walla

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