Yariv Levin
Yariv LevinYonatan Sindel/Flash 90

Senior officials in the justice system have said that the appointment of Yariv Levin or Bezalel Smotrich as Justice Minister would mean "a declaration of war against the Supreme Court."

According to a Channel 13 News report on Thursday, the senior officials attacked Levin and Smotrich and said they "want to destroy the existing system and have been declaring it for several years now.”

"If in the past Prime Minister Netanyahu prevented legislative initiatives against the court, and even promised the presidents that he would stand by them. It seems that this time, if one of them is appointed, he will have backing from Netanyahu to destroy the court and the system," said the officials.

"We expect a particularly difficult period," the senior officials added. "They are not coming to have a dialogue with us, but to impose their ideology at us. We are the enemy in their eyes.”

Netanyahu said in recent days that if the justice portfolio remains in the hands of the Likud, he is leaning toward appointing Yariv Levin as Justice Minister.

Levin has stated in the past his desire to advance the passage of the overrule clause, cancel the Judicial Selection Committee or at least reduce the position of the Supreme Court justices in the committee, cancel the way in which the Supreme Court President is elected, and cancel the seniority rule which states that the more senior judge is appointed Supreme Court President.