Justice Minister Yariv Levin accused Channel 14 commentator Yaakov Bardugo of extortion and threats during an interview with Radio 94fm on Tuesday.
“He demanded personal things from me and threatened me if I did not comply with his demands... I don’t want to repeat the word he used regarding what he intends to do in this matter,” Levin said.
“I am saying hard and sad things. From the perspective of a person who has truly struggled all his life, I have never deviated from the path. Even now, there is no chance anyone will move me from my way, and the pressures being applied to me are immense,” he noted.
“Because of personal matters, he systematically slanders me in an obsessive manner every day – in a way that has no connection to reality,” Levin said.
“It’s disrespectful, it’s improper, and it helps one person a lot – the one who calls himself the president of the Supreme Court. This is exactly what he wants,” the minister said.
Culture and Sport Minister Miki Zohar also said he had faced threats from Bardugo.
“Like other ministers, I too have encountered the phenomenon of threats from the interest-holder Yaakov Bardugo, who is intimidating right-wing elected officials in a despicable manner,” he wrote on X/Twitter.
מחזק את ידיו של חברי שר המשפטים יריב לוין שמוביל בעוז את הרפורמה החשובה לתיקון מערכת המשפט ומתמודד עם איומים מבית ומחוץ.כמו שרים נוספים, גם אני נתקלתי בתופעת האיומים מבעל האינטרסים יעקב ברדוגו שמהלך אימים על נבחרי הימין באופן בזוי. שום דבר לא יעצור אותנו מלשרת בנאמנה את בוחרינו…
— Miki Zohar מיקי זוהר (@zoharm7) May 6, 2025
“Nothing will stop us from faithfully serving our ideological voters, and no wheeler-dealer will prevent us from telling the truth.”
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi also joined Zohar in supporting Levin in a post on X.
The Channel 14 commentator “does not represent the Right – he represents himself,” Karhi wrote.
יעקב ברדוגו לא מייצג את הימין – הוא מייצג את עצמו. עסקן כוחני שמנסה לנהל את המדינה בהתאם לאינטרסים האישיים שלו. חברי שר המשפטים, אל תירא ואל תחת!האיומים, הלחצים, והשקרים – מוכרים וידועים. אבל אנחנו לא נרתעים. לא נבחרנו כדי לרצות פרשנים עם מיקרופון – אלא כדי לשרת את עם ישראל…
— שלמה קרעי - Shlomo Karhi (@shlomo_karhi) May 6, 2025
“The threats, the pressures, and the lies – they are familiar and well-known. But we will not be deterred. We were not elected to please commentators with microphones but to serve the people of Israel and fix the distortions in the judicial and media system,” he added.
Grafitti incident
In February, Bardugo’s home was graffitied with the words, “You are the mouthpiece; you are also guilty.”
Following the incident, Bardugo blamed politicians from the Left and Right, naming Levin, Zohar, and Karhi in particular: “Blaming right-wing media figures who demand they act has become entrenched among ministers Karhi, Levin, and Miki Zohar.”