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).
