Israeli Justice Minister Levin: 'Judge Amit is not the president of the Supreme Court – I do not recognize him'

Justice Minister Yariv Levin was interviewed Saturday on Saturday News on Kan 11 and fiercely attacked Supreme Court President Judge Yitzhak Amit. “Judge Amit is not the President of the Supreme Court – I do not recognize him and will not recognize him because he was selected through a flawed and illegal process,” he claimed.

Regarding the publicized conflict with Amit during wartime, the minister said, “In this case, one must be both right and wise. Judges are deciding to impose appointments on the justice minister through an illegal order and process. If I approve this, it will continue, and the system will persist. We can't change the current situation without changing the composition of the Supreme Court."

“I’m not willing to accept the old method in which they did whatever they wanted,” the minister added, accusing the Supreme Court judges. “They trample the Knesset, the government, and the public, and I won’t accept that.” There’s a group here that got used to the idea that election results don’t matter and that the final say is always theirs.”

"The root of the problem in the judicial system is the issue of the composition of the judges on the Supreme Court. My colleague, Minister Wasserlauf, filed a detailed petition to the Supreme Court on the ugly selective enforcement that’s taking place, and the court completely dismissed it,” Levin continued. “There is no way to change our current situation without changing the makeup of the Supreme Court.”

"After they said the reform was dead, I succeeded in passing a historic change."

“After people said the judicial reform was already dead, I succeeded in passing a historic change in the Judicial Selection Committee,” Levin said. “I succeeded in appointing dozens of judges to district and other courts – people who never had a chance of being selected. Some of those we called thought it was a joke and couldn’t believe it was real, because for so many years they weren’t selected for non-relevant reasons.”

"There’s a group here that got used to the idea that election results don’t matter and that the final say is always theirs," he continued.

The Supreme Court spokesperson announced today that during a protest in front of the court building, one of the building’s windows was damaged by what appeared to be a shot from an air gun or slingshot.

Levin said in the evening interview with Kan News that he “strongly condemns the incident,” but added, “I’ll say this about the matter: the terrible selective enforcement happening with regard to incitement and attacks on public officials will eventually lead to great disasters. There is no greater danger than a situation where people feel there is no justice."