Last winter, old friends Ministers Dan Meridor and Benny Begin sat next to one another at one of the Likud faction’s weekly meetings. The two ministers shrunk into their chairs as they watched yet another fire-and-brimstone performance against the Supreme Court. This one was led by the party’s right-wing department, the darlings of the settlers: Knesset members Tzipi Hotovely, Danny Danon and Zeev Elkin.
Those were the days when the Likud raged over the High Court of Justice’ directive to evacuate the houses of the illegal Migron hilltop outpost, which was built on private land. Elkin and other Knesset Members tried to initiate a “High Court bypass law.” They faced a wall of opposition — Meridor, Begin and Minister Michael (Miki) Eitan who succeeded in thwarting the proposed bill.