Top Israeli lawyer, IDF war hero, threatens to use weapons if judicial reforms pass

Police have launched a probe following a statement by senior Israeli attorney David Hodek that he would use “live fire” if judicial reforms implemented.

By World Israel News Staff

David Hodek, a top Israeli lawyer and a war hero, stated that he “would not hesitate to use live fire” if the Netanyahu government implements its plan for judicial reform.

“If someone forces me to live in a dictatorship and I have no choice, I won’t hesitate to use live fire,” Hodek told the Israel Bar Association’s annual conference in Eilat on Wednesday.

“People are willing to fight with weapons. Everyone is aghast. They say ‘How can you say such a thing?’ I’m saying it. If I’m forced to go there and they drag me there, that’s what I’ll do., said the prominent lawyer and recipient of a Medal of Courage for his bravery as a tank officer in the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

Radio 103FM reported on Thursday that the police have launched an investigation into Hodek’s statements.

According to Ma’ariv, there was some applause, while others demanded that a complaint be made against Hodek. One was launched by former MK Michael Ben-Ari, who himself had been investigated on allegations of incitement of hatred against Arabs.

“I just filed a complaint with the police against Adv. Hodek on incitement to violence, sedition, publication of sedition, threats, and organization of an illegal army. I’m convinced that he’ll be interrogated just as they interrogated me for a thousandth of this,” Ben-Ari said, Yeshiva World News reported.

In an interview with CNN on Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argued against claims that the judicial reforms initiated by his justice minister, Yariv Levin, are anti-democratic.

“In order to secure freedom and democracy, you need the balance between three branches of government. In Israel, that balance has been thrown askew and you have one branch, a huge branch, a tree trunk—the judiciary—basically overcoming, arrogating to itself, the powers of the legislative and the government,” he said.

Israel’s Supreme Court justices “self-select,” he explained, referring to the fact that judges hold veto power in Israel’s Judicial Selection Committee.

“This is a system we have in Israel. And if I say to you, this is democracy, you’d say that’s ridiculous. It’s unacceptable,” the prime minister stated.