Likud Candidate Ziv Maor Criticizes Security Establishment and Right-Wing Media

Ziv Maor, a Likud primary candidate, launched a sharp critique against Israel's top security officials and right-wing media shortly after being removed from broadcast on Galei Yisrael radio. Maor accused the Shin Bet and the military of harboring a "rotten layer" and failing to uphold the state's authority, particularly criticizing their response during the March 27, 2023, incident when protesters threatened the Prime Minister's residence and the Shin Bet reportedly did not intervene.

Maor argued that the government signaled to the left-wing "Kaplanist" faction that it would not act decisively, effectively ceding control to them. He invoked Max Weber's definition of the state as holding a monopoly on legitimate violence, warning that when the state relinquishes this power against ideological crime, it ceases to function as a state. He described the current situation as a "Altalena syndrome," where the right bows to the government while the left believes it has the right to use violence against the right.

Calling for the enforcement of legitimate violence, Maor emphasized the need for law enforcement against all, regardless of ethnicity. He condemned administrative detentions of Jews like Ariel Danino and filmmaker Avraham Shapira as antisemitic fabrications intended to "balance" statistics for the U.S. State Department. Maor also criticized right-wing media outlets for lacking genuine ideological representation of the right.

This confrontation highlights internal tensions within Israel's political and security spheres ahead of the Likud primaries, with Maor positioning himself as a hardline critic of both the security establishment and media aligned with his political camp. The episode follows his recent removal from a radio broadcast, signaling ongoing friction in his public engagements.