Levin blames High Court rulings against asylum seeker detention for Tel Aviv riots

Justice Minister Yariv Levin says that asylum seeker riots in Tel Aviv today prove why the coalition’s judicial overhaul legislation is needed.

“We are fighting for the country to be Jewish and democratic, for the right of the residents of south Tel Aviv and Eilat to live safe lives, so that south Tel Aviv will not turn into the Wild West,” he says in a statement.

Levin points to instances in 2013, 2014, and 2015 when the High Court of Justice struck down government legislation, barring authorities from jailing asylum seekers for extended periods without trial.

He also rails against a 2020 ruling against a law requiring employers to deposit 20 percent of asylum seekers’ salaries into a special fund that they can only access if they leave the country.

“The High Court caused difficulties in several other issues and created new grounds for disqualification out of nowhere. The government acted, the Knesset enacted, and the High Court canceled. Authority without responsibility,” Levin says.

“Therefore, it is important to promise that lawmakers can make decisions and carry them out. Therefore, the system for choosing judges is very important. Therefore, it should be promised that judges who grew up in neighborhoods of the periphery will be chosen for the court. Judges who put the interests of the residents of the neighborhoods before those who cross the border illegally,” he adds.