From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, April 9, 2025
Golan welcomes police chief’s vow to uphold High Court rulings, but says ‘real test’ is actions, not words
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
The Democrats chairman Yair Golan welcomes police chief Daniel Levy’s vow to uphold the High Court’s ruling on the dismissal of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, but warns that “with all due respect to words, the real test will be in actions.”
“Compliance with High Court rulings is a basic condition, but the rule of law does not end there,” he writes on X. “The rule of law also requires preventing obstruction of investigations, protecting investigators, and maintaining their independence — especially in cases involving the prime minister, primarily the Qatargate affair.”
“The public expects the police commissioner to be a true gatekeeper – one who holds the door and stands between it and anyone who tries to break it down, even if he is the prime minister.”
Golan’s comments come after National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir interrupted Levy during a press conference, after Levy was asked by a reporter if he would respect the High Court’s ruling on the matter.
After Levy replied that the police would “fight for democracy until our last drop of blood,” a reporter asks if he would also do so even if instructed otherwise by Ben Gvir — prompting the minister to tell the senior law enforcement official that the press was “provoking” him.
Also weighing in, Democrats MK Naama Lazimi says, “Ben Gvir tries to prevent the commissioner from answering a basic question about maintaining the rule of law, only because he answered that he would uphold the High Court ruling.”
“It will be interesting whether the commissioner will be forced to issue a clarification on the ‘severe’ answer [in which he provided] a commitment to obey the court and the law.”
Both Lazimi and Golan have recently been the targets of police violence.
During a protest outside the Knesset last week, security forces were filmed grabbing and shoving Lazimi despite people screaming that she was a lawmaker.
On March 20, Golan was knocked to the ground by police during a demonstration in Jerusalem, after which he declared that “after 38 years in the IDF, a few shoves won’t stop me.”
In contrast to the Democrats, Otzma Yehudit MK Limor Son Har-Melech backs efforts to oust Bar, claiming after Levy’s press conference that the court was “breaking the law” by intervening in Bar’s firing.
“The law is clear and explicit: the authority to dismiss the head of the Shin Bet is vested solely in the prime minister and the government. This is not an interpretation — this is the language of the law,” she writes on X.
“The one acting here in violation of the law is not the government, but the High Court. Once again, they are blatantly interfering in the decisions of elected officials in an improper and draconian manner.”
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