Israel will 'sort out' top court post Hamas, Hezbollah — anti-Arab minister

An Israeli far-right lawmaker has sought action against the Supreme Court after it ruled against the extreme-right government's controversial legal overhaul.

"First, we will destroy Hamas, then we will take care of Hezbollah and for dessert, we will sort out the Supreme Court," said Zvika Fogel, a member of the radical Jewish Power party on Tuesday.

"Everything in its own time. Patience," he added on X.

Jewish Power has been referred to as Kahanist and anti-Arab.

The court on Monday ruled against an amendment passed by parliament in July which scraps the "reasonableness" clause, used by the tribunal to overturn government decisions which are deemed unconstitutional.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had argued the sweeping judicial reform agenda was necessary to rebalance powers between judges and politicians.

But his detractors warn the multi-pronged package could pave the way for authoritarian rule.

The legal overhaul sparked mass protests on a weekly basis in Israel from the start of 2023 until the war on besieged Gaza.

'Despicable and shameful'

Fogel's statement was denounced by war cabinet member Benny Gantz, who called it "despicable and shameful". And Interior Minister Moshe Arbel said, "There is no place for including the Supreme Court in the same sentence as our worst enemies".

But Fogel was defended by his party chief and extremist national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who argued that "those who see a comparison between Hamas and the Supreme Court in this tweet have issues with reading comprehension".

Recently, Ben-Gvir along with another extremist minister Bezalel Smotrich called for ethnic cleansing of Palestinian residents in Gaza so that illegal Jewish settlers could "make the desert bloom".

The comments underscored fears in much of the Arab world that Israel wants to drive Palestinians out of land, repeating the Nakba or forced exodus of Palestinians from their land in 1948 upon the formation of the state of Israel.

"What needs to be done in the Gaza Strip is to encourage emigration," Smotrich said. "If there are 100,000 or 200,000 Arabs in Gaza and not 2 million Arabs, the entire discussion on the day after will be totally different."

Since October 7, Israel has killed over 22,000 Palestinians in its brutal war on besieged Gaza, and wounded 57,035 others. Some 7,000 Palestinians are feared buried under debris of the annihilated homes and businesses.