Levin does not seek to succeed Netanyahu. His life mission remains the judicial coup
Fueled by deep ties to Likud activists and a vision to reshape the country, the justice minister is unwavering in his pursuit of an overhaul, no matter the cost
Shalom Yerushalmi is the political analyst for Zman Israel, The Times of Israel’s Hebrew current affairs website
Justice Minister Yariv Levin is not looking to lead Likud or the country in a post-Netanyahu era, whenever that may come.
Levin, the most popular man in Likud today, easily took first place (behind Netanyahu) in the party’s most recent primaries in 2022. If primaries were held today, he’d win again without difficulty. But he has no leadership ambitions, despite some analyses to the contrary.
Those close to Levin say that when the day comes to replace Netanyahu, Levin will support Israel Katz, giving the new defense minister a major boost over any competition.
Levin’s popularity means he has no reason to exert himself with the Likud base. He has hardly any opponents in the party, and he receives blind support from Netanyahu for all his moves. And yet, Levin is making an effort. And then some.
In the past year, Levin has attended 181 events for Likud central committee members and activists, including parties, celebrations and even funerals. Levin explains to the activists that he sees them as family. In his decades in Likud, he has grown with them and nurtured them, and they have grown and nurtured him in return. Some activists marrying today remember him attending their bar mitzvah ceremonies as well.
Anyone who wants to understand Levin’s obsession against the judicial system should attend these events. Levin tells activists that they, along with hundreds of thousands of other Israelis who voted for right-wing parties in the last elections, sent him to carry out the judicial overhaul. That project is his commitment and life’s work, and he will not rest until he completes the task.
Levin is convinced, of course, that this coup is the right thing to do, and that he has come to save the state from the justices of the Supreme Court, all of whom he would like to replace with others he believes would better represent the people. If it were up to Levin, of those on the bench today, only conservative Justice Yosef Elron would remain there.
The delaying and stalling tactics that Levin has employed to avoid convening the Judicial Selection Committee — before being forced to do so on Thursday by order of the Supreme Court — were only intended to prevent what he believes would be the disastrous appointment of Judge Isaac Amit as court president for the long term (Amit is already serving as acting president in the absence of a permanent appointment).
In Levin’s eyes, the Judicial Selection Committee is the root of all evil. Even when he was forced to convene it on Thursday, he put off a vote for the court presidency, dealing instead with his desire to install cameras and livestream the committee’s proceedings in an attempt to ridicule the institution, its discussions and the selection procedures.
Those who believe the judicial overhaul is dead merely amuse Levin. There is essentially no difference in the fundamental perception of society between Levin and journalist Avishay Ben Haim, who has written books and research against what he argues is the Ashkenazi elite that refuses to accept the rule of Likud and the right.
This elite, according to Levin and Ben Haim, maintains a hold over judicial institutions, the prosecution, the media and academia, and uses its power in an attempt to protect itself against the demographic changes that are working to its detriment.
To this philosophy, Levin adds his fundamental animosity toward numerous decisions of the Supreme Court, which he attacks at every opportunity and in every setting.
Zman Yisrael’s legal commentator Yuval Yoaz wrote this week in advance of the selection panel’s meeting that “Levin is the greatest destroyer of the Israeli judicial system of all time.” Levin wouldn’t necessarily take offense at this portrayal — he might even appreciate it.
From his point of view, Levin is destroying the judicial system to free it from the elitist hegemony and to establish in its place an alternative that reflects his ideology, which he believes would better represent Israeli democracy. As for the hundreds of thousands of people who believe his actions are about taking over the judiciary and violating democratic balances on a dangerous path toward dictatorship — he doesn’t really pay attention to them.
On Thursday, before the committee convened, Levin awoke to giant images of him that dominated the front pages of all the major newspapers. The Israel Bar Association purchased advertisements proclaiming that “Levin’s intention to employ various tactics to sabotage the selection of a Supreme Court president will lead to a deep fracture in the constitutional and social structure of Israel. The destruction of the rule of law is a direct harm to all of us.”
Levin was unfazed by this. He knows that any campaign of this kind will serve him and benefit him in the Likud party. Levin’s only real reference points are Netanyahu, Likudniks and the other right-wing parties, and there his celebrity has never faded.
Meanwhile, he remains a fanatic of the overhaul he began on January 4, 2023, despite all the destruction that has occurred here since then. For it, he is willing to forfeit all other ambitions, including the leadership of Likud. This is his religious mission.
