The big winner in the Likud primaries – the drain on the justice system

1. The big winner bLikud primaries She is winning: the fierce attack on the justice system. I don’t know if the results were dictated by the collective wisdom of the functionaries or by me commander in chief, But the result is unequivocal: everyone who focused and devoted himself to blackening the justice system received a major promotion.

Four of the first five are serial consignors. Yariv Levin, who won by a huge margin, is the only one whose consistent agenda for reforming the judicial system was born long before the indictments against Netanyahu. Yoav Galant, who came third in the primaries, carries with him a long personal reckoning with the system that he sees as responsible for botching his appointment as Chief of Staff. Since then, Galant has railed against it at every opportunity and with all his might. On the other hand, his embarrassment at the insult he received from Netanyahu is worth noting. Writing in his book that after the cancellation of his appointment by the government, Galant was interviewed by the media and announced that he would be the next Chief of Staff. “The Prime Minister (Netanyahu) called me,” Weinstein writes, and said, ‘Have you seen Galant? We were saved by a miracle’. And I saw no reason to contradict his words.” .

further. In fourth place is Dodi Amsalem, who is behind him in two head-on confrontations with Deputy Adviser Dina Zilber and with Supreme President Ester Hayut. Amsalem’s approach to the system does not fall short of Levin’s, but the style is completely different.

And in fifth place, Amir Ohana, who also has his own reasons for detesting the system, and most of them converged on his short tenure as Minister of Justice where he learned firsthand (and they, in the office, firsthand) what is expected if a full right-wing government is elected.

2. I returned to glance at that mythological picture where Netanyahu, on the day of the opening of his trial, drags the podium from the Prime Minister’s office to the court and a line of senior Likud officials stands behind him and serves as a background and setting for the ‘I blame’ speech he gave against the prosecutor’s office. If ever the struggle against the system ends in destruction, this image will go down in Zionist history. Like Herzl’s balcony, the ink flag, the paratroopers at the Kotel, Sharon and the bandana crossing the canal. And now, Netanyahu occupies his Bastille and launches the judicial reform from it.

Is there a correlation between the participants of this historic photo and the success in the primaries? Well, the answer is mixed. Standing there are Tzachi Hanegbi, Gadi Barkan and Esnat Mark who will not enter the Knesset. There are Ariel Kellner and Mai Golan who were pushed to the back of the list. And there is Nir Barkat and Yisrael Katz, whose wings were clipped and their pretense to succeed Netanyahu in Agala and during the war suffered a serious blow. Now, after the primaries, they see Yariv Levin only through a telescope, from a distance of ten thousand votes (Barkat) and 17 thousand (Katz).

And in the Likud cheerleading band, four of the top five in the primaries are photographed: Amsalem, Ohana, Galant and Eli Cohen. The lack of Levin’s opponent resonates. Maybe he had good reasons for his absence, in any case the absence was blamed on both Netanyahu and the functionaries did not attribute the plumbing to his duty. In any case, Levin also refused to serve as justice minister when the job was offered to him. According to him, because of the futility and waste of time in promoting legal initiatives that the political situation does not allow.

Of course, there is no connection between these two absences – from the historical picture and from the Ministry of Justice. But they may have something to teach about Levin’s preference for behind the scenes. The faithful ‘Consillieri’ status, who stirs in the dark and of course the eloquent interviewee who repeats at every opportunity the catchphrase of the old Cato: “Other than that, I believe that Carthage should be destroyed.” Carthage of the past, Saladin of today. Today, after the primaries, the expectation from Levin is to move from behind the scenes to the front of the stage, preferably to the Ministry of Justice, in order to fulfill the result of the primaries. will it happen The answer is below.

3. As we have seen, four of the starting five are serial “accountants” against the justice system. And here are two more who were successful in the primaries. Shlomo Karai, a regular abuser who reached the threshold of the top ten (12th place). The new woman slot was won by attorney Tali Gottlieb (25th place) who, like the others mentioned above, is convinced that the judicial system, with an emphasis on the prosecutor’s office, is the strategic threat to the State of Israel.

Gottlieb, in an interview with Gali IDF, has already marked a target: “Sharon Afek is a radical leftist.” Afek is currently the attorney general’s deputy for legislative affairs. This radical leftist has served as a special counsel since 2015 and before that was one of the senior members of the military attorney’s office. We haven’t heard a word from Netanyahu about what kind of obstacle the military prosecutor’s office, and the radical leftist at its head, has piled on the IDF’s freedom of action. With the possible exception of subtle adjustments that help us crush from the air, and if necessary from the ground, without being too exposed to the hand of international law.

4. The big winner in the primaries is the suffrage to the justice system that jumped to the top of the parade of strategic threats to the State of Israel. Even before Mansur Abbas, the loss of Jewish identity, Iran, Hiballah, Hamas and the cost of living.

Needless to mention but still: this threat jumped to the top of the charts after submission The indictments against Netanyahu. Before that, Netanyahu was generally in her favor and her defenders. Ask even the retired supreme president Aharon Barak, who stood by Netanyahu’s side, when he supported the plea agreement while the talks to sign it were still relevant. When Yariv Levin was asked in all recent interviews why for 12 years he was unable to advance his initiatives to “repair” the system, he replied with the parable of the Dead Sea: “Bring more trucks of salt to rub on my wounds.” Oh, what glorious impudence. Levin did not promote his ideas because Netanyahu prevented him. Even today, Levin will not touch the tip of his pinky without Netanyahu’s approval.

And the Netanyahu of after the indictment is definitely not the Netanyahu of before. His speeches against the prosecutor’s office, which sewed up his cases for political reasons, were intended to turn him from a defendant to an accuser. This is a zero-sum game: if the prosecutor’s office is corrupt and tainted, it is clean and pure. and vice versa. If the indictments are legitimate and well-founded, then the problem is entirely with him. Soon, when he submits his request to cancel the trial because “The protection from justice”, we will receive a thick and orderly list of all the omissions and violations of the law that were allegedly committed against him. We received the introduction in the detailed application submitted by Shaul and Iris Elovich.

5. On the day of the primaries, Tova Tsimuki reported in “Yediot Ahronoth” about her initiative to abolish seniority in the election of the supreme president. Yariv Levin, Simcha Rothman, Ayelet Shaked and the other reformers hold a variety of ideas for the repair (or destruction, depending on the eye of the observer) of the judicial system: the selection of legal advisors by the ministers, a hearing for the judges in the Knesset, the abolition of the binding status of the instructions of the Attorney General, the superseding clause, changing the seniority system in the election of the supreme president and more. But, all of these, at least for now, will continue to hover like an inverted sword over the head of the judicial system. Until Netanyahu decides where to go: end the trial with a plea deal; to end the trial with a verdict; Or, finish the sentence in the sense of “eliminating” it. In the meantime he steps on Levin as one steps on his bow, and this arrow will be launched at a time that suits him.