Yinon Magal Says Justice Moves Fast Only When It Wants To

On Sunday evening, Channel 14 host Yinon Magal claimed that Israel’s justice system acts quickly only when it chooses to, and that the pattern shows selective enforcement. Speaking on his program, The Patriots, he pointed to two recent cases in which indictments were filed rapidly: against four people who protested outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, and against Mordechai David, who blocked former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak.

Magal said, “When they want to, the wheels of justice work fast.” He argued that in Barak’s case the indictment came quickly, while no indictments were filed against activists from the Brothers in Arms movement who, he said, rioted outside the Kohelet Policy Forum, caused damage, and humiliated people there. He questioned why some cases receive what he called “systemic efficiency” and others do not.

According to Magal, the case involving Justice Sohlberg led to four indictments filed at high speed after 65 people were arrested. He called that “amazing” and said it showed the system is capable of acting quickly when there is a will to do so, but chooses not to in other instances. He summed up the contrast by saying, “It depends whom you block.”