Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Tuesday accused the High Court of Justice of criminal extortion by threats, escalating his attack on the judiciary. In a statement reported by ynet, Smotrich likened the court's conduct to mob-style protection rackets, asking rhetorically what comes next — envelopes with bullets, a horse's head in a bed, or a Molotov cocktail on a minister's car.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionism) on Tuesday accused the High Court of Justice of criminal extortion by threats, in an unusually aggressive statement following the court's handling of the government's formal response to a pending petition. According to a report by ynet, Smotrich said: "The legal mafia has moved to extortion by threats. This is exactly what a threat message sounds like — it reminds one of protection rackets." He then asked: "What's next — envelopes with bullets for government offices? A horse's head in a bed? A gasoline bottle on the cars of elected officials?" Smotrich called for a police investigation, arguing that extortion by threats is a criminal offense and that neither Supreme Court President Isaac Amit nor Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara are above the law. "We will defeat this protection racket too — at the ballot box," he concluded.
The remarks come as the High Court and the government are locked in a deepening legal confrontation. As The Zioneer reported earlier Tuesday (09:18), the government formally responded to the court asserting that justices must rule according to the law and warning them of personal tort liability for defiance. At 09:06, the court pushed back, stating that an elected official who refuses to comply with a court ruling can have his parliamentary immunity removed. Smotrich's statement on Tuesday morning (09:42) appears to be a direct reaction to the court's response, escalating the rhetoric from legal disagreement to personal criminal accusation.
Smotrich's comparison of the court to organized crime — using the Hebrew term "protektzia" (protection racket) and asking about a horse's head, a classic mafia intimidation trope — marks an intensification in the style of the coalition's campaign against the judiciary. The statement is the third bulletin in a fast-moving thread this morning: the government's submission (09:18), the court's response (09:06), and now Smotrich's incendiary rebuttal.
4 developments
- StrongLevin responds to High Court warning: judges must do soul-searching, respect the law
- StrongJustice Minister Levin accuses High Court justices of acting 'like dictators'
- DevelopingSmotrich warns High Court: the people are sovereign, do not destroy Israeli democracy
- StrongSmotrich: Millions approved for protection-racket victims, demands police crackdown
Source and signal
- Internal intake