Former Shin Bet chief Ami Ayalon spoke about the judicial reforms being advanced by the government in an interview with Nissim Mashal on 103FM on Friday, saying "we should all be very concerned, the energy is at a level that I don't remember it ever getting to."
"Therefore with this kind of energy, when people reach a reality where they have no other way to stop what they see as the destruction of all the things they live for, I think we should be afraid of people who will translate this into violence."
"This whole process is to get Benjamin Netanyahu out of his trial, Levin said it outright," added Ayalon.
Escalating protests
"There are sane people in the Likud, they must understand that in order to get the prime minister out of prison they are destroying everything that is happening here. The protest will not stop - it will continue and escalate."
The reform planned by the government includes a series of significant changes in the judicial system, such as a decision that only a majority of the High Court will be able to invalidate legislation passed by the Knesset.
Another step of the reform, designed to strengthen the government vis-à-vis the court, is the establishment of an override clause that will annul the decisions of the High Court by a majority of only 61 members of the Knesset, as well as changing the composition of the committee for the selection of judges so that it will be fully controlled by the coalition.
The reform is also concerned with weakening the power of the government's legal advisors so that their position will not bind the government, and with eliminating the clause for reasonableness, which, among other things, significantly limits the court's ability to intervene in the appointment of senior officials.