Ayelet Shaked
Ayelet ShakedYonatan Sindel, Flash 90

Former Labor MK Uzi Baram published in Haaretz an article harshly attacking Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home).

In his article, Baram called Shaked a "walking provocation" and claimed she "supports Hebrew discrimination" and "is trampling the Supreme Court."

According to Baram, Shaked is "truly dangerous, because she wants to replace the expression that 'everything can be judged' with 'everything is political.' In her quest to reach the hearts of her voters, the Justice Minister has abandoned her first duty: to be faithful to the judicial and court systems, which she is supposed to represent."

He also slammed Shaked for her stance regarding convicted IDF soldier Elor Azariya's request for pardon.

Azariya was convicted of manslaughter in January for shooting a wounded terrorist he suspected of having an explosive vest. In ש March 2016 terror attack in Hevron, the terrorist shot by Azariya had left one soldier wounded before being neutralized by IDF forces.

In February, Azariya was sentenced to 18 months in prison, though on appeal, IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot slashed four months from the sentence. In November, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin rejected Azariya's request for pardon.

"When the President refused to pardon him - she sent him an irritated request asking that he reevaluate his decision," he wrote. "It's only natural that Culture Minister Miri Regev (Likud) and MK Oren Hazan (Likud) signed this request. What's more worrying is the fact that the Justice Minister herself joined them, unashamedly denying the case's outcome and the President's clear, annotated decision, and she joins as the ultimate signatory in support of those who disdain the courts that adjudicated Azariya's case."

Emphasizing that Shaked is a secular woman in a religious party, Baram claimed that she is doing everything possible in order to weaken Israel's democracy and strengthen its identity as a Jewish state.

He expressed concern over the fact that "her words will not disappear into our collective memory's unconscious. They become facts, laws, and a way of life, which will influence our future as a Jewish state continuing to seek its identity."