Justice Minister Yariv Levin on Sunday night accused the Biden administration of collaborating with the anti-judicial reform forces on Israel’s left. In a video that was leaked to Walla, Levin also blames the failure of his legislation on Likud MKs who opposed it, but he is “determined to fight for this thing.”
In a meeting with Haredi activists at the home of Haredi strategist Yossi Rosenbaum, Levin said: “There is no doubt that we are at a truly unimaginable disadvantage. They hold the court, the AG, all the heads of the economic system, the American administration, which is working in collaboration with them on this matter, as you see from the things that are said by people from the administration.”
Levin stressed that he didn’t think anyone is behind the actions of his detractors, insisting “they are doing it from their authentic perception.”
Levin addressed a question from his hosts about his relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding the promotion of the judicial reform, saying he prefers “not to go into rumors or statements.” He also said: “Agreement is better than disagreement, but only as long as this agreement brings real change and not meaningless cosmetics.”
Levin admitted to his hosts that “there’s no doubt that mistakes were made, but make no mistake about it, even if we ran a perfect information campaign, there’s no chance we’d have reached a different situation.”
“The other side has an amazing arsenal of tools and its power was revealed in these events as never before,” Levin explained. “The size of their financing defies the imagination. Add to it their complete control over the press, and news websites like Ynet, Wallah, and even Israel Hayom.”
Levin accused the opposition of not agreeing to any part of the reform in the negotiations at the president’s residence. “The opposition does not agree to as much as a single coma,” he said. “But it’s still better to try and exhaust this opportunity – it would benefit everyone.”
Finally, Levin argued the failure of his legislation was the result of opposition from some Likud MKs. “We need to ensure the closing of the ranks in Likud, and you have a very important part in this,” he told his hosts. “This is what failed us in the previous session and prevented us from passing the bill. The situation cannot remain as it is, I am making a great effort to tighten the ranks within the Likud and in the coalition parties––where I see less of a problem. And as soon as they see that we are united, it would impact the other side.”
