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Netanyahu’s Likud vs. Israel’s judicial system

For Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin the time has come for a last, decisive duel against the High Court.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu(C), Cabinet Secretary Tzachi Braverman(R)  and Tourism Minister Yariv Levin (L) attend the weekly cabinet meeting at prime minister's office in Jerusalem on January 27, 2019. (Photo by ABIR SULTAN / POOL / AFP)        (Photo credit should read ABIR SULTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

About a decade ago, when Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin was still a new Likud Knesset member, he created big headaches for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

As a jurist by profession and a diligent member of the Knesset, Levin was the Likud's most energetic member in the struggle to limit the powers of Israel’s Supreme Court. At the base of his agenda was the claim that a small, left-wing minority had taken control of the Supreme Court and was trying to impose its left-wing values on the entire society. Levin, together with other Knesset members, tried to introduce new laws aimed at limiting the powers of the justices of the High Court. But ultimately it was Netanyahu himself who blocked these initiatives from behind the scenes.

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