In the outside world, Bezalel Smotrich is far from a household name. Nevertheless, in Israeli politics he has gained a reputation, as a matter of fact mainly notoriety, as a shameless extreme right-wing populist provocateur who freely expresses bigoted, racist and anti-democratic propositions. Smotrich is a Knesset member representing the Yemina party, lives in one of the more ideological settlements in the occupied West Bank, and is one of the most ardent supporters of annexing the entire West Bank. To complete the picture, he advocates the segregation of Jewish and Arab mothers in hospital maternity wards, and his Twitter account was suspended after a tweet suggesting that the Palestinian teenage girl Ahed Tamimi, who made headlines after confronting Israeli soldiers, “should have been shot, at least in her kneecap … this would have put her under house arrest for life.” He sees the Jews as landlords of the entire territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, who in their “generosity” and as good hosts are allowing the Palestinian Arabs, whether inside Israel or in the occupied territories, to stay as guests, at least for now. By now you probably get the picture … almost. Smotrich also detests the Supreme Court, even more than he loathes his ideological rivals. In his eyes this institution of the democratic system is a facilitator of liberal ideas that he equally abhors, and its judges lackeys in the hands of left-leaning politicians and media and those abroad who are trying to deprive the settlers and the state of Israel of their “right” to restore the glory of the ancient Kingdom of David from the Jordan river to the sea. So his initiative to establish a commission of inquiry that will probe conflicts of interests among Supreme Court justices was far from being out of character for this rogue element in the Israeli democratic system. He belongs to the type of politician, not unknown in modern history, who uses the democratic system to get elected only to then do their utmost to destroy it from within. It has to be said that there is a consensus that no judge should deliberate a case in which there is a conflict of interests, as the law itself states. Smotrich’s proposal, which was voted down by the Knesset only when it became apparent that Blue & White would bring the coalition down if it were adopted, has exposed once again the deep divisions over perceptions of the rule of law and the entire judicial system that exist between different sections of Israeli society. His proposed inquiry was not about holding judges to account, but holding them to ransom. It was an attempt to intimidate the country’s most senior judges, something particularly disturbing at a time when the prime minister himself is a defendant in a court of justice, facing unprecedented corruption charges. Its purpose was to let it be known to judges across the board that the politicians are after them, and if they don’t comply with the capricious demands of those politicians they will suffer the consequences. Judges are not above the law and their accountability and the transparency of their actions are essential in maintaining trust in the judicial system. But demands such as Smotrich is making are pretty rich coming from those politicians who attack the rule of law, who incite against their rivals, who support illegal settlements, who try to bend the law to allow politicians to escape justice, and who insist on appointing judges to suit their ideology and interests. Attack on Israel’s judges is part of Netanyahu’s, his family’s and their henchmen’s wider assault on the country’s democratic institutions, processes and debates. Yossi Mekelberg And guess who supported this call for an investigation until he realised that he might lose his government? Yes, it is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is charged with fraud, bribery and breach of trust, and at some point in the legal proceedings may face these senior judges if his case should go to appeal. So why not start intimidating them right away so they will bear it in mind later? This is part of Netanyahu’s, his family’s and their henchmen’s wider assault on the country’s democratic institutions, processes and debates, and on anyone who has been involved with or defended the justice system in investigating, indicting and presiding over the prime minister’s alleged crimes and earlier of his wife’s conviction. Their son Yair Netanyahu, one of the prime minister’s closest advisers, has made a habit of calling for the attorney general to be investigated for his “crimes,” and this son of the prime minister of the Jewish state was quoted in the Israeli media as accusing the police of acting like the Nazi Gestapo during their interrogation of suspects in his father’s corruption cases. Nothing is left sacred, nothing is revered any more for the Netanyahus and their political stooges as they set out to destroy democracy in their attempt to escape justice. Unlike the previous generation of Likud politicians who might have held hawkish ideas or were socially and economically conservative but respected the rule of law and the justice system as sacrosanct, this crop is comprised of brutish nationalist-populists who are more interested in power and imposing their will, and if this involves destroying the separation of powers, a cornerstone of any democratic system, so be it. Don’t get Smotrich wrong — he is no fan of Netanyahu. On the contrary, he doesn’t trust him, and sees him as a soft-right charlatan who has no courage to do what Smotrich would have done had he been in power, including annexing the occupied territories in their entirety in complete defiance of the rest of the world. However, in their blind hatred of the judicial system the two men are one and the same. If the Knesset is sincere in wanting to eradicate conflicts of interests and corruption from public life, as it should be, it should start closer to home. Knesset members should look at the figures showing how many Israeli politicians have been indicted and convicted for corruption compared to the number of judges, and this might instil in them some humility. One thing is certain — any judge indicted on much lesser charges than those facing Netanyahu would have suspended themselves instantly from their role, unlike the current Israeli prime minister. Yossi Mekelberg is professor of international relations at Regent’s University London, where he is head of the International Relations and Social Sciences Program. He is also an associate fellow of the MENA Program at Chatham House. He is a regular contributor to the international written and electronic media. Twitter: @YMekelberg Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News" point-of-view