The ruling Likud party led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu filed a police complaint on Tuesday against a prominent screenwriter and television producer, citing alleged incitement to violence and the assassination of the prime minister.
Giora Chamizer, the creator of several Israeli television shows popular with teenagers, gave an interview to Channel 12 during protests against the government’s proposed judicial overhaul on Sunday night in which he said “the end [for Netanyahu] he will be like every dictator in our history,” the news network reported Tuesday.
When the interviewer asked him what he meant, Chamizer paused, before saying: “Look at Wikipedia, look at where dictators end up. This is where Bibi will end up.”
The comments Sunday night came amid massive protests that erupted across the country after Netanyahu announced he was firing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for making a public call to freeze the controversial judicial reform push.
Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators, including military reservists, have taken to the streets since January to protest the coalition’s legislative package to reform the judiciary, a major systemic change that has drawn fierce opposition from leading legal scholars. , economists, business and technology leaders, and many more.
“The prime minister wanted to divide the people and without planning it he united the people,” said Chamizer in his interview.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset plenum in Jerusalem, March 27, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Chamizer is the creator of the hit tween show “The Greenhouse” (“HaHamama”), which Netflix bought and remade for American audiences as “Greenhouse Academy,” with Chamizer as showrunner. He is behind a long list of successful Israeli shows, including “Shchuna,” “Ha-Shminiya” and “Ha-E.”
The award-winning screenwriter recently posted several videos on his Instagram profile aimed at his young fans in which he explains recent developments from his perspective, using concepts such as the “good guys versus the bad guys ” he says which is widespread in his. shows.
“When you watch my series, you always know who’s good and who’s bad, right? The question is whether you know how to do it in real life too, when you look at what is happening in our beloved country. I’m sure you do. Let’s say there was a lead character in my series who is on trial for serious crimes, and instead of fighting for his innocence, like any citizen, he tries to change the rules of the game to overturn his trial. Is it for the good guys or the bad guys?” Chamizer asked.
“And let’s say that this leader had a son, a paratrooper who has never worked a day in his life, who does not stop – from the moment he wakes up – writing terrible and violent posts on the internet in which he harms prime ministers, presidents. , chiefs of staff, judges, anyone who dares to criticize his father,” Chamizer said, referring to Yair Netanyahu, the eldest son of the premier and his wife Sara.
Earlier this month, Yair Netanyahu compared anti-government protesters to the Nazi paramilitary Sturmabteilung, or SA, who attacked police for not taking a tougher stance against protesters, and more recently, he claimed in a tweet that the US was funding the anti. – restore objections.
Separately, Likud filed complaints against protesters who allegedly burned photos of the premier in bonfires built on the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv during Sunday night protests.
Israelis opposed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial reform plan set bonfires and blocked a highway during moments of protest after the Israeli leader fired his defense minister, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Sunday. March 26, 2023. (AP/Ohad Zwigenberg)
“We expect the police and prosecutors to act immediately and with all their strength against the incitement and violence against the prime minister and elected officials,” Likud said.
On Monday, Netanyahu promised to slow his government’s ongoing efforts – pushing at breakneck speed through the legislative process – to bring most judicial appointments under political control and neutralize the powers of the High Court of Justice. The prime minister said he was doing this in order to engage in talks with the opposition, although he promised to carry forward reforms even if no agreements were reached.
The legislation would politicize the Judicial Selection Committee and give the coalition almost complete control over the appointment of judges. The composition of the committee — which currently divides power between politicians, judges and other public representatives on new judicial appointments — is arguably the most controversial part of the reform, with the issue of compromise the most unclear. .
The Constitution, Justice and Law Committee on Monday approved the bill – which would give the government an exclusive say in the first two Supreme Court choices during its term – for its final reading in the full Knesset. The government also intended to change the current practice to allow it to elect the president of the court, which would end the seniority system in place today.
