Justice Minister Yariv Levin, the spirit behind the legal reform, is losing patience. In conversations with his fellow party members, Levin sounded as if he internalized that the legal reform had changed, and was trying to exert pressure so that as many items of the reform he planned would pass. Levin was even heard telling MKs that if the reform does not eventually pass, he has nothing to look for in the Justice Ministry.
A Likud MK who spoke with him in recent days claims Levin even told him that if the coalition does not emerge from the round of talks with an achievement regarding the Judicial Appointments Committee, he will consider returning to serve as a member of Knesset only. Those close to Levin deny the allegations and say that he has not discussed it with any Knesset member, and that he does not think so.
"We stopped being naïve"
In recent weeks, Levin has changed his tone regarding the talks at the president's residence. A party member told Israel Hayom: "Until two weeks ago, Levin said that the talks at the president's residence were important and good. He praised them and said that it was good that they existed, and that if they made achievements from there, he would be happy with it. In the past week, the tone has changed. Levin says that nothing good will come out of the president's house for the Likud. The opposition does not come with clean hands and the judicial reform, or what is left of it, will only be damaged by the continuation of the talks."
Minister of Justice and President Hayut, Photo: Gil Eliyahu/Ginny
But Levine doesn't just say things in rooms. Lately, he has sounded more militant in public. Last week, Levin attacked Sa'ar from the Knesset podium, saying: "You make statements at any moment, 'If the coalition advances which law will we withdraw from the talks?' What hypocrisy, what bullying it is. There isn't a single person in the country who doesn't see the truth now – who is willing to be flexible, who stopped and didn't advance legislation, and who behaves as if his country is his."
Levin added: "We stopped being naïve. We will reform the legal system. We are not impressed by the mafia threats you make against us."
Yossi Shelly stirs up a storm
Meanwhile, today is the deadline for MKs to submit candidacy to the Judicial Appointments Committee. The official representative of the coalition is Yitzhak Kreuzer of Otzma Yehudit. Limor Sun Har Melech of the same party, Nissim Vaturi and Tali Gottlieb, both from the Likud, also submitted candidacies.
Yesterday, the Director General of the Prime Minister's Office, Yossi Shelly, caused a storm when he responded in an interview to Reshet Bet to a question about the legal reform. When asked if it was still on the agenda, or if it had been completely removed from the agenda, he replied: "I'm not a politician, but I think the people of Israel understood what happened. I think that in the end it will converge into something positive and we will return to leading the people of Israel together.
Director General of the Prime Minister's Office Yossi Shelly, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
"We need to stop talking about it [about the legal reform] and say what's happening with the Ashkelon pipeline, what's happening with the port of Eilat. Talk about it a little, enough with this babble. Stop talking about judicial reform, it will disappear just from the talk anyway."
Later, a clarification was issued on behalf of Shelly, who said: "In my remarks on the radio, I did not mean that we should withdraw from the legal reform, to which we are committed. I wanted to emphasize that alongside the legal reform and the efforts to reach agreements on the issue, the government led by Prime Minister Netanyahu continues to act on many other issues, such as lowering the cost of living, the security of Israeli citizens, restoring personal security and streamlining public service for all citizens of Israel."
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