Levin and other Likud ministers accuse pro-Netanyahu commentator Bardugo of blackmail
Jacob Bardugo denies accusation; Karhi and Zohar support justice minister, as firebrand Likud MK assails them for triggering calls to investigate premier’s confidant
Justice Minister Yariv Levin on Tuesday accused a media personality closely associated with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of blackmail, drawing mixed responses within the premier’s Likud party and eliciting a call from the opposition for a criminal probe of the pundit.
Jacob Bardugo, a commentator on right-wing outlets Channel 14 and Radio Galey Israel, has blamed Levin for the government’s failure so far to deliver on its promise to oust Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.
Speaking on Galey Israel Tuesday, Levin said Bardugo, “because of personal matters, obsessively slanders me from every platform, every day.”
“It mainly benefits one person — the one who calls himself the president of the Supreme Court,” said Levin, referring to Chief Justice Isaac Amit, whom the government has boycotted.
“He wants me to be weakened from within,” said the justice minister of Barudgo. “When a person comes to me with demands that no decent person would agree to and tells me ‘if you don’t meet these demands…’ — I don’t want to use the words he said,” Levin added, without elaborating.
Bardugo denied the accusation in an interview with Galey Israel, saying he had “ideological disagreements” with Levin and other right-wing ministers.
“Levin’s words have been taken to a totally bizarre place,” he said, accusing the left of seeking to sow discord on the right. “I won’t stay silent even if that angers a few people.”
The radio station said in a statement that it “supports Jacob Bardugo and rejects with disgust the statements of minor politicians.”
Culture Minister Miki Zohar and Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, prominent members of Netanyahu’s Likud party who have also sparred with Bardugo, came out in support of Levin.
“Jacob Bardugo does not represent the right – he represents himself,” wrote Karhi on X, describing Bardugo as “an aggressive power broker who is trying to run the country according to his own vested interests.”
“The threats, the coercion and the lies are well-known and familiar. But we won’t be deterred. We were not elected to please commentators with a microphone, but to serve the people of Israel,” wrote Karhi. He urged Levin: “Do not fear and do not be dismayed.”
Zohar praised Levin for “vigorously leading the important reform to fix the judicial system and dealing with threats from home and abroad.”
“Like other ministers, I too have encountered the phenomenon of threats from Jacob Bardugo, who has vested interests, and has intimidated right-wing elected representatives in a despicable manner,” he wrote.
Bardugo had accused the three Likud ministers in Feburary of incitement after which the words “you’re a mouthpiece, you’re guilty” were graffitied on the pundit’s home. The accusation came a day after Zohar lashed out at Bardugo in a Galey Israel interview, accusing him of hurting the right and making voters leave Likud for National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party.
Following Levin’s comments on Tuesday, lawmaker Naor Shiri, from the opposition Yesh Atid party, sent an urgent letter to Attorney General Baharav-Miara and to the head of the police’s investigations and intelligence division, demanding they open a criminal investigation into Barudgo.
In response, firebrand Likud MK Tally Gotliv posted a video in which she lambasted Levin, Karhi and Zohar, blaming them for Shiri’s move.
“Let’s remember basic common sense. Not everyone has to love us, respect us, or agree with our ways and actions,” said Gotliv. She added that going “against an experienced and veteran commentator who supports right-wing positions and protects the government and the prime minister” is “shameful” and “plays into the hands of the left.”
“MK Naor Shiri of Yesh Atid is appealing to the prosecutor to open an investigation against Bardugo because of what Minister Levin said,” she continued. “We do not have the privilege to engage in offensive discourse, but only substantive discourse.”
Bardugo is considered a close confidant of Netanyahu’s. Hebrew media have reported that Netanyahu offered Bardugo a ministerial role in the current government, and that Bardugo served as the premier’s representative in talks to form the government.
The Times of Israel Community.