Dozens of ex-economic officials sign letter against judicial reform
Dozens of former Economy Ministry directors and officials issued a warning against the proposed judicial reforms in an open letter on Monday morning.
“There is a serious concern that the weakening of the judicial system will lead to longterm damage to the growth trajectory of the economy and the quality of life of the residents of Israel,” said the former officials, including some who worked in governments headed by Benjamin Netanyahu.
The ex-officials warned that Israel’s economic stability was in part due to the independence of the judiciary and civil servants, as that system creates trust in the economic environment.
They argued in their letter, “Research shows that damage to the quality of government institutions is almost irreversible. An institutional balance that supports growth is delicate, and a deviation from it may be long-term, since harmful political and economic institutions tend to perpetuate themselves over many decades.”
The reforms would lower Israel’s credit rating, the letter said, pointing to the lowering of the rating of the Polish government’s bonds by the Standard and Poor’s rating agency when Poland reformed that country’s Constitutional Court and public broadcasting.
The officials argued that the reforms would also create hesitancy to invest in Israeli hi-tech.
Netanyahu told senior business officers on Thursday that the opposite was true, and those who invested in Israel
did so in spite of the judicial conditions. He gave the example of the development of natural gas fields, over which he said he had to grapple with the High Court of Justice.
Netanyahu argued that the proposed judicial reforms – which would change the selection process for judges, the role of government legal advisers, and other judicial powers – would “jump-start the Israeli economy like a spring, by somewhere between 1%-2% of GDP.”
In spite of Netanyahu’s assurances, protesters from the hi-tech industry were set to continue their demonstrations against the reforms on Tuesday.
The Hi-Tech Workers Struggle said it would hold demonstrations in Israel and around the world. These would include Tel Aviv, Herzliya, Haifa, Ra’anana, Netanya, Jerusalem and Silicon Valley.
“Economists, senior executives, bank CEOs, fund managers and the governor of the Bank of Israel – all of these have already joined our truth alarm!” the group said in a message on Monday morning. “Regime change in Israel will not only harm our civil rights, but will also cause tremendous economic damage that will directly harm each of us. The lowering of the credit rating, the flight of investors and capital from Israel – these threats are already waiting around the corner if we do not apply emergency braking!”
Other protests from various demographic groups were announced on Monday, with a women’s demonstration being planned for this Sunday.