Four former Supreme Court presidents, along with dozens of other retired judges, on Wednesday called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to rein in the coalition members’ vitriolic rhetorical attacks against the judiciary, the Supreme Court, and its current head, Supreme Court President Isaac Amit.

The judges, who are retired from positions in both the Supreme and lower courts, said the “unbridled” attacks in recent days have used language that could be understood as incitement to violence, and asserted that the vilification of the judiciary has the potential to do immediate damage to Israel’s legal system, which would undermine Israeli democracy and Zionism itself.

The letter was signed by former Supreme Court presidents Uzi Vogelman, Esther Hayut, Dorit Beinisch, and Aharon Barak, and included a total of 142 retired judges.

A spokesperson for Netanyahu did not respond to a request for comment.

“We, retired judges and presidents of the courts in Israel, hereby express our deep concern in light of the campaign of smears, verbal violence, insults and contempt that have been uttered for some time toward the judges of Israel and the person who stands at their head, Supreme Court President Isaac Amit,” wrote the judges.

These attacks have become “a daily spectacle of unbridled systemic outrage threatening the democratic basis of the country,” the judges continued, and pointed to comments by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich that the........

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