Former Likud prime minister Menachem Begin was current Likud Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s godfather.
Not his figurative godfather: Levin is trying to push through judicial reform that would clip the High Court of Justice’s wings, while Begin recognized the primacy of the courts, famously saying in 1979 following a landmark High Court ruling calling for the evacuation of Elon Moreh that “there are judges in Jerusalem.”
Instead, Begin was literally Levin’s godfather, having been the sandak at Levin’s brit, holding the future judicial reformer on his knees when the latter was being circumcised.
“Public service was my heart’s desire even in my childhood,” Levin said in a speech he gave in the Knesset in 2020 after being named speaker. “The first leader I saw up close was the sixth prime minister, Menachem Begin, of blessed memory. The experience of meeting him was so powerful that it brought me, so they say, to real tears – he was the sandak at my circumcision.”
“The first leader I saw up close was the sixth prime minister, Menachem Begin, of blessed memory. The experience of meeting him was so powerful that it brought me, so they say, to real tears -- he was the sandek at my circumcision.”
Yariv Levin
Among the many momentous moments Begin will be remembered for was his decision as the head of the Irgun in June 1948 not to fire back after David Ben-Gurion ordered the IDF to fire on the Altalena, a ship bringing arms to the Irgun, which had not yet been absorbed into the IDF. Sixteen Irgun fighters and three IDF soldiers were killed in the Altalena incident.
With the nascent state in the midst of a fight for survival against combined Arab armies arrayed against it, this incident could easily have triggered a Jewish civil war. But Begin rose to the occasion, taking to the airwaves and exhorting his followers: “Do not raise a hand against a brother, not even today.”
Years later, Begin wrote: “After my death I hope that I will be remembered, above all, as someone who prevented civil war.”
“After my death, I hope that I will be remembered, above all, as someone who prevented civil war.”
Menachem Begin
Now, 75 years later, Levin is facing his own Altalena moment – still figuratively, however, not literally. And Levin is very familiar with the Altalena story: His mother’s uncle, Eliyahu Lankin, was the ship’s commander.
How is this Levin’s Altalena moment?
How is this Levin’s Altalena moment? Because he has the power to defuse a combustible situation that could conceivably lead to internecine violence. When National Unity Party leader Benny Gantz raised the specter of a civil war a month ago, he was roundly condemned. Today, according to a poll sponsored by the Jewish People Policy Institute, one-third of the country are concerned there could be a civil war over this issue.
As more than 100,000 people march each Saturday night in opposition to the judicial reform Levin is pushing; as economists, academics, businesspeople, former IDF officers and attorney-generals and High Court justices, both past and present, are publicly speaking out and signing petitions against the proposal; as the rhetoric is getting increasingly acidic, with former prime minister Ehud Barak comparing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Hitler and President Isaac Herzog to Neville Chamberlain, the British prime minister who tried to appease the Nazi dictator; as a decorated air force pilot who led the raid that destroyed the Iraqi reactor wrote openly about assassinating the prime minister, Herzog called for a time out and for dialogue.
ON SUNDAY, while hosting in his residence new Golani recruits in the midst of their grueling training, Herzog called on the government to “stop the whole process for a moment, take a deep breath, allow dialogue to take place, because there is a huge majority of the nation that wants dialogue.”
This was a follow-up to reports last week of his proposal – the one that triggered Barak’s Chamberlain comparison – to freeze the judicial reform legislative process for two weeks during which Herzog would host unconditional negotiations between all sides to the issue in the hopes of reaching a compromise. A Globes poll found that 59% of the public favor finding a compromise, and 25% are opposed.
Yet what was Levin’s response to Herzog’s public call Sunday to stop the whole process for a while and allow dialogue to take place? “Let there be no doubt, we will not suspend the legislation for even a minute.”
“Let there be no doubt, we will not suspend the legislation for even a minute.”
Yariv Levin
And he was not alone. Labor Party leader Merav Michaeli tweeted in response to the initial reports of Herzog’s proposal, “When Israel’s democracy is hanging in the balance, we must not blink, and certainly not agree to any negotiations over it.” And Meretz head Zahav Galon added, “We do not argue with the executioner over the length of the rope.”
And therein lies the problem.
Many surveying the volatile situation and troubling dynamic are looking for that proverbial “adult in the room” to step in and keep things from spiraling out of control. Herzog is trying to fill that role, but does not have the statutory powers to force the recalcitrant “children” to stop fighting and threatening to burn everything to the ground – and to talk. He needs their agreement.
Though some in the coalition were annoyed at US Secretary of State Antony Blinken for lecturing Israel during his visit here last week on the essence of democracy, others nodded their heads in agreement when he said that one of the unique strengths of democracy is “a recognition that building consensus for new proposals is the most effective way to ensure they’re embraced and that they endure.” It is safe to assume that Michaeli and Galon also agree with that statement.
But to reach a consensus the sides need to talk. Not in a politically charged environment like the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, chaired by judicial reform zealot Simcha Rothman from the Religious Zionist Party, but rather in a more neutral setting – like the President’s Residence – where the goal is to come to a middle ground, not score political points or pin down one’s political rival.
If this does not take place, and the judicial reform continues to steamroll through, the protests will only intensify, the rhetoric will only get more toxic, and the chances of it all leading to violence will only increase.
One of the reasons Begin will go down as a giant in Jewish history is because he prevented Jews from fighting Jews while a fight for survival was taking place with the Arabs.
Granted, today’s situation is far different than in 1948 when the Altalena sailed into Tel Aviv. But still, talk of violence and civil war is creeping into today’s conversation and consciousness, and Begin’s godson can emulate his godfather by taking action that could forestall internecine Jewish violence.
One wonders what Begin would think of Levin’s failure, at least so far, to rise to the occasion, agree to hit the pause button for just two weeks, and talk.