Anyone reading the following broadside against the attorney general would find it hard to believe that Shas chairman Aryeh Deri was the person behind it.

“The detached and anarchist attorney general, who is racing ahead with harsh arrests and sanctions against Torah students, is pushing the Haredi public to the edge and will lead it to a tax revolt, a break with the police, and a deep rift with state authorities,” Deri wrote. “Anyone who cares about the country’s future must rise up against this madness.”

Over the years, Deri has treated law enforcement authorities with respect, especially after having felt their power firsthand. On Sunday evening, however, he deviated from his custom and issued a statement that fit perfectly with the rhetoric of far-right National Security Minister and Otzma Yehudit party leader Itamar Ben Gvir, who is increasingly becoming Deri’s greatest rival for Shas voters.

Later Sunday, the national security minister welcomed Deri’s remarks, echoed them, and even added: “I understand that at long last everyone understands what I shouted from day one, that the criminal and anarchist attorney general must be fired. Unfortunately, at the time I was a voice crying in the wilderness, and my Haredi colleagues opposed her dismissal. She must be sent home. Without that, there is no meaning to right-wing rule.”

Following the Shas chairman and the national security minister, Justice Minister Yariv Levin also joined the festival of rebellion against law enforcement and the tax authorities. “The time has come for us to adopt a series of operative decisions that will return control of the state to the government and put an end to judicial anarchy,” Levin urged.

To provide a governmental imprimatur to these harsh, and perhaps horrifying, remarks, a post from Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs himself arrived overnight Sunday, adding fuel to the general fire.

“This is not equal enforcement, but quite the opposite: selective, tendentious, and improper enforcement,” Fuchs wrote. He was referring to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara’s decisions concerning the enlistment of Haredi men, as she moves to enforce a landmark Supreme Court ruling from earlier this year that ended the legal framework for blanket draft exemptions.

This sweeping attack on the attorney general, the High Court of Justice, and the police is no accident. It is a negative campaign that will intensify until the elections and may ultimately lead to a significant rupture between a large segment of the public and law enforcement authorities, as well as a tax revolt and mass violations of the law that will demonstrate to everyone what true anarchy looks like in this country.

The elected government and its representatives in government ministries and the Knesset are inciting their massive voter base against the institutions of the state

The elected government and its representatives in government ministries and the Knesset are inciting their massive voter base against the institutions of the state

This is, in effect, a new kind of anarchy: The elected government and its representatives in government ministries and........

© The Times of Israel