Shin Bet said to warn of ramped-up threats against top justice, attorney general

Law enforcement official quoted drawing direct connection between ‘extreme, dangerous’ rhetoric from coalition lawmakers and threats against Esther Hayut and Gali Baharav-Miara

The Shin Bet security service reportedly warned Sunday of mounting threats against Supreme Court President Esther Hayut and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, both of whom have been central targets of right-wing figures for their opposition to certain government moves.

The warnings were expressed during a situational assessment held by the agency Sunday, Channel 13 news reported.

During the assessment, officials identified what they said were growing threats against figures in the judiciary, particularly Hayut and Baharav-Miara.

The pair have been opposed to the government on most aspects of the judicial overhaul, which is aimed at watering down the ability of justices or attorneys general to second-guess government decisions.

According to the report, officials at the meeting drew a direct line between rhetoric by government lawmakers and the threats aimed at Hayut and Baharav-Miara.

“We are not far from the day that someone will try to spill blood here,” an unnamed law enforcement official was quoted saying. “Instead of trying to calm things down, ministers and Knesset members are doing exactly the opposite and speaking in extreme, dangerous ways.”

Supreme Court Chief Justice Ester Hayut at a Supreme Court hearing, June 27, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The report did not specify the nature of the threats or provide details about their frequency. Both Hayut and Baharav-Miara have previously been assigned armed bodyguards.

It came as coalition leaders rejected the Supreme Court’s authority to delay implementation of a new law that eliminates the ability of the court or the attorney general to order a prime minister to recuse themselves from office in conflict of interest cases.

“Nor does any court have the authority to cancel the results of the elections and allow the removal of a prime minister [from office], which would abolish democracy at its foundation,” coalition leaders said in a statement after the court issued a temporary injunction to freeze the law.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara arrives for the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, Sunday, July 9, 2023. (Gil Cohen-Magen/Pool Photo via AP)

Sunday also saw two coalition MKs denounce Shin Bet heat Ronen Bar for reportedly warning that terrorist acts by Jewish Israelis were fueling Palestinian terrorism, with one accusing Bar of being part of a so-called “deep state.”

The Shin Bet is charged with protecting political figures, state representatives and others, and regularly beefs up measures in the case of threats or a heated political atmosphere. The government’s overhaul effort has opened up deep societal divisions, raising the specter of political violence.

A woman attends a rally in support of the government’s planned judicial overhaul, in Tel Aviv on June 1, 2023. The placard reads “Did you know that of the 24 laws overturned by the High Court, Esther Hayut was on the bench for 14 of them? The High Court’s march of shame must be stopped!” (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Last month, Regional Cooperation Minister David Amsalem declared that Baharav-Miara was “the most dangerous person” in Israel and a clear threat to democracy, accusing her of shielding protesters from prosecution.

Amsalem and others have called for Baharav-Miara to be sacked. Hayut is set to step down from the bench in October.