Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Tuesday doubled down on incendiary comments he made a day earlier when he vowed to “trample” Supreme Court President Isaac Amit, prompting Amit to accuse him of crossing a “red line” and to pledge that the far-right leader’s threat “won’t divert me from my path.”

Smotrich’s remarks drew widespread criticism from the Judicial Authority, President Isaac Herzog and opposition lawmakers, who accused him of incitement. But he said he stood by them.

“I have no more delicate words to choose from to describe the injustice that Isaac Amit and his colleagues are inflicting on Israeli democracy,” the minister said Tuesday in an interview with Army Radio.

He accused the Supreme Court of “violently trampling upon and silencing the voice of the majority” and “stealing the will and freedom of the people of Israel.”

Amit wrote a letter in reaction to Smotrich’s invective, insisting that it would not weaken the country’s judges and courts. Writing to judges and court officials from the entire judiciary, Amit thanked them for what he said were the numerous messages of support he received.

“Even though these statements crossed a red line in my eyes, they won’t divert me from my path,” he wrote. “I’ll keep leading the Judicial Authority with my head held high, with judiciousness and with decency, with full devotion to the mission given to me to serve the public.”

He added: “Although the words were directed at me personally, their meaning is much broader – they are intended to harm each and every one of us, and especially the institution in which we serve. The message implied by the words seeks to undermine the status and role of the courts in a democratic state.”

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