Israel High Court Moves On Ben Gvir | Netanyahu Trapped

Israel High Court orders Netanyahu to justify keeping Itamar Ben Gvir as National Security Minister amid petitions over alleged police interference. Right, so Benjamin Netanyahu has just been told by Israel’s High Court: stop dodging, put it in writing, explain why Itamar Ben Gvir is still in charge of the police. And if that sounds like a niche legal story, it isn’t, because this is the part of the state that decides who gets hauled off the street, who gets protected, who gets punished, and who gets left alone. So when the court forces the prime minister to justify keeping a minister accused of leaning on policing like it’s his personal lever, that’s the system testing whether it can still restrain its own government. Now here’s the bit to watch for, because it’s the part that makes Netanyahu dangerous and weak at the same time. He can’t fire Ben Gvir without risking his coalition. He can’t satisfy the court without admitting how much he’s been tolerating. And Ben Gvir’s already screaming “coup” and “they’re firing the nation” at the court, hiding his hideousness behind what passes for democracy in Israel, which tells you exactly how this is going to get weaponised. So in a minute I’m going to walk through what the court has done, what Ben Gvir is accused of, why Netanyahu has been forced to own it personally, and what this leaves him able to do next, which is a heck of a lot less than he wants you to think. Right, so Benjamin Netanyahu has been ordered by Israel’s High Court of Justice to do something he has spent far too long trying to avoid: put his name on a justification, in writing, for keeping Itamar Ben Gvir, the very worst of the worst of extremist ministers in his coalition, in charge of the police. A panel of five justices has issued what’s basically a formal warning shot. They’ve told Benjamin Netanyahu to come back and explain, in writing, why he shouldn’t be ordered to remove Itamar Ben Gvir as National Security Minister. That matters because Ben Gvir isn’t some minor minister with a ceremonial job.