Four years on, Levin’s judicial overhaul leaves Israel divided and facing a reckoning

During Israel’s 2022 election campaign, Likud issued promises on nearly every major public concern: the cost of living, security, governance and free education from birth. Detailed plans were presented, though many were never implemented. One major plan, however, was held back until after the election. It was the plan that would produce one of the deepest ruptures in Israeli society: the judicial overhaul. “It is reasonable that one of the reasons for the massacre was Hamas’ perception of the division within the nation and the military’s readiness,” an IDF spokesperson later said of the circumstances preceding Yahya Sinwar’s decision that the time had come to launch the attack. How it began On January 4, 2023, days after the government was sworn in, newly appointed Justice Minister Yariv Levin held a news conference and announced sweeping changes to the judicial system.