Israeli Justice Minister Levin Threatens Supreme Court With 'Extinction' — Judicial Overhaul Crisis Reignites

Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin publicly threatened on May 7, 2026 to allow the Supreme Court to 'go extinct' if sitting justices continued blocking his preferred judicial appointments. In a press conference and subsequent Knesset speech, Levin laid out a plan for a renewed judicial overhaul, framing the confrontation as a power struggle with a 'radical judicial elite' unaccountable to the elected government. Supreme Court Chief Justice Isaac Amit responded in a rare public statement that Levin was engaged in a campaign to 'dismantle the judiciary' and destroy the separation of powers. Haaretz reported the standoff under the headline 'Justice Minister Warns Top Court of Extinction if Judicial Picks Rejected.' The escalation occurred as Levin sought to appoint two right-wing judges to the Supreme Court over the objections of the Judicial Selection Committee, which has a built-in veto mechanism for the sitting Chief Justice. Legal scholars warned the confrontation could trigger a constitutional crisis if Levin attempted to bypass the committee through emergency legislation. The crisis resurfaced the 2023 judicial overhaul debate — which had provoked the largest protest movement in Israeli history — ahead of national elections expected by October 2026. Opposition leader Yair Lapid called Levin's threat 'the single most dangerous statement by any Israeli minister since independence.' Former PM Naftali Bennett, who had recently announced his joint party platform with Lapid, said the overhaul agenda was a core reason voters needed to change the government.