The violence, the shouting by frenzied Knesset lawmakers and the sight of "right-wing activists" being dragged out of the room, which ultimately forced the court to suspend proceedings, came as the justices heard arguments that touch on the very heart of democracy and the rule of law: whether a prime minister with a deep conflict of interest can be allowed to appoint the head of the Shin Bet security service.
The legal answer is clearly no. The High Court of Justice has already ruled that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cannot fire the Shin Bet chief due to the serious accusations the agency is probing against his aides. The appointment of a new head should likewise be barred due to conflicts of interest. But in Netanyahu's Israel, the prime minister acts as he chooses. From his point of view – and that of his supporters – Netanyahu is not subservient to the law. To the contrary, the law needs to bend to the leader's needs. If not, there will be no law.
On the eve of the court hearing, the presenters on Channel 14's "The Patriots" program warned that if former Maj. Gen. David Zini is not made the head of the Shin Bet, there will be no Shin Bet. By this logic, in Netanyahu's country, there are two options – either the judges will align themselves with him, or there will be no judges in Jerusalem.
It is no coincidence that Zini, Netanyahu's candidate for Shin Bet chief, has called the justice system a "dictatorship that controls the entire country," and that the agency's head should be subordinate to the prime minister and not the law. This was no slip of the tongue – it seems that Zini wanted to prove he met the conditions demanded of anyone interested in serving Netanyahu.
The gatekeepers, including the attorney general and the High Court justices, are trying to keep the dam against the murky breach that threatens it. But they are contending with a multi-pronged threat – an inflamed crowd that burst into the courtroom shouting "shame," and MKs Tally Gotliv and Limor Son Har-Melech running riot during the hearing while the prime minister's ignorant, lying, demagogue son rails against the "dictatorship of the judicial system."
Isaac Amit, the Supreme Court president, called the incident "an attempt to thwart a legal process and harm democracy," and noted that "there is no other Western country where things happen like this." He is right. But is anyone in the government or among Netanyahu's supporters still moved by the truth? After all, the justice minister does not recognize Amit's authority.
The hearing over the appointment of a new Shin Bet head is not another "conflicts of interest" affair; it is about a war the prime minister is leading against the institutions of the state through his obedient servants cowering in the coalition and a mob that has become convinced that the state itself is the enemy. It is a struggle between the rule of law and the rule of Netanyahu. On Tuesday in the High Court courtroom, the walls began to collapse.
The above article is Haaretz's lead editorial, as published in the Hebrew and English newspapers in Israel.