Israeli tourism minister: Supreme Court imposes its 'radical worldview'

Israeli Tourism Minister Yariv Levin believes there’s no connection between the fight he and friends on the right are waging against the Supreme Court and the graffiti spray-painted Nov. 3 on the wall of the court building in Jerusalem. The graffiti was to protest the court’s decision approving the demolition of a synagogue built in the West Bank settlement of Givat Ze’ev on private Palestinian land. The graffiti, which said, “You don't destroy a synagogue, we want a Jewish state,” was painted in red on the wall of the Supreme Court, once considered the holy of holies of Israeli democracy and now the right wing’s favorite punching bag.

Levin, a jurist by profession with roots planted deeply in the hard-core ideological right, was quick to issue a statement condemning the vandalism. But this was perceived as disingenuous on his part after he recently claimed that the Supreme Court was encouraging terrorism when it issued an injunction delaying demolition of the homes of the Palestinian terrorists who murdered Eitam and Naama Henkin (Oct. 1), Danny Gonen (June 19) and Malachi Rosenfeld (June 29).

Since his election as a Likud Knesset member in 2009, Levin has been spearheading a reasoned and methodical campaign to limit the power of the legal system in general and, in particular, of the Supreme Court, which he described in the past as a bastion of “the radical left.”

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Levin strenuously rejects claims that his pronouncements contributed to the inflammatory climate against the Supreme Court and indirectly to the spray-painting of the graffiti. He argues that such claims are, in fact, part of a systematic campaign to silence a legitimate voice in order to preclude change. According to Levin, if anything the harsh words against him and the derogatory names he has been called by the Israeli Haaretz newspaper contribute to a climate of incitement.