Many of our judges have been threatened and the threats are mainly directed at a judge who has handed down a heavy sentence to someone connected to crime families, a senior source in the court system told TheMarker Wednesday.

Asked about this allegation, a spokeswoman for the courts said, "Threats to judges have recently been received from crime families, and as a result the level of security surrounding certain judges has been increased, according to what the circumstances warranted."

The senior source in the court system added: "At one time the criminal underworld had a sense of honor." The source added: "They would appoint an arbitrator, who would make a decision, and that would be the end of that."

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But in current times, the source said, we see 19-year-old minors sucked into committing murder.

The source said: "Judges are well aware of the atmosphere, even if for obvious reasons, these things are not publicized. It should also be kept in mind that the threat is not continuous, because in these cases we do succeed in finding the criminal."

The tight security measures that were put in place for Jerusalem District Court Judge Hana Ben-Ami were recently publicized, after threats had been made on her life. The Courts Administration placed tight security measures around Judge Ben-Ami, who heard the case of Assi Abutbul, who faced charges of arms dealing and illegal possession of weapons.

Judge Ben-Ami reported that she had been followed.