While expressing his grave concerns regarding the government's proposed judicial reforms, former Knesset Speaker Mickey Levy (Yesh Atid) says that talk of civil war is exaggerated.
"I hope that [society] will not disintegrate and that we'll remain united," Levy told the Maariv newspaper. "There won't be civil war. Where would we go? We don't have another land. However, people are playing with fire and with the very life of this country and I call on everyone to stop. The President's call for dialogue is an escape hatch we should use."
Levy added that, "If the Supreme Court invalidates the [government's] legal reforms, there will be a clash between the legislative and judicial branches which could lead to a legal crisis. All this is happening because Bibi [Netanyahu] is weak and everyone has him by the throat. MK Simcha Rothman has set his rifle sights at the Supreme Court. Justice Minister Yariv Levin is racing ahead with his twenty-year-old dream of creating a judicial revolution. MK Aryeh Deri, convicted of criminal offenses, wants a Basic Law that will return him to government. And then there's Benjamin Netanyahu, accused of committing crimes, along with Bezalel Smotrich with his Messianic worldview."
According to Levy, "Once upon a time, Netanyahu made it clear that he intended to protect the legal system, but that's all gone now. The Justice Minister has said that the Netanyahu trial was a catalyst for the reforms. All those people I just mentioned, they all have him by the throat, and if the reforms don't go ahead, they are threatening to dismantle the coalition."
Looking at the nature of discourse surrounding the reforms, Levy thinks that the level in the Knesset has descended to an extremely low state. "This week, a line was crossed when MK David Amsalem [Likud] made worrying and inciteful statements. In the Knesset Constitution Committee, various members completely lost it. In my previous capacity as Knesset Speaker, I was called a dishrag among other insults and I thought that was as bad as it could get, but I was deceiving myself. As Knesset Speaker, it never occurred to me that people would treat me like that. In all my ten years in the Knesset, I don't remember people saying such things. Whenever I passed the Speaker I would bow my head to him."