‘Israel going into a civil war now,’ declares former Israeli prime minister

A longtime enemy of Prime Minister Netanyahu, Olmert had called for “real war” in February.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

The State of Israel is officially entering a period of civil war following the passage of a law that restricts the Supreme Court’s ability to nullify government and legislative decisions, former prime minister Ehud Olmert announced in an interview on Monday evening.

“This is a serious threat. It’s never happened before. We are going into a civil war now,” Olmert told British news Channel 4.

The interviewer seemed to be taken aback by Olmert’s declaration, incredulously repeating the words “civil war” in a shocked tone. Olmert then walked back his statement.

“We are going into a civil war now.”

Former Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Olmert says the country faces civil war as huge protests have flooded the streets in Israel over judicial overhaul. pic.twitter.com/WZ33aItKP7

— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) July 24, 2023

“Yeah, I mean, civil disobedience with all of the possible ramifications to the stability of the state and the ability of the government to perform, to the obedience of the large part of the Israeli population to a government which is perceived by a large part of the population to be illegitimate,” he said.

“The government has decided to threaten the foundations of Israeli democracy, and this is not something that we can accept or tolerate,” he added.

A vehement opponent to the judicial overhaul, Olmert called for “real war” in February 2023 to stop the legislation.

Last week, during an interview with Hebrew-language Democrat TV, Olmert, a longtime enemy of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, urged world leaders to shun the Israeli leader and treat him as an international pariah.

He also called upon President Joe Biden to punish Israeli right-wing voters for supporting the reform.

According to Olmert, Biden’s administration should levy punitive measures against the Jewish State to make the “young thugs who support Bibi” understand that there is a “price to pay” for being in favor of the legislation to overhaul the judiciary.

Olmert recently lost a defamation lawsuit to the Netanyahu family, who sued him after he said in a TV interview that they are “irreparably mentally ill.”

The former premier was released from prison in 2017 after serving some 16 months on bribery and corruption charges.

Benjamin NetanyahuCivil warEhud OlmertIsrael Judicial SystemJudicial reform