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The day after the right-wing government of Benyamin Netanyahu approved the beginning of the judicial reform, the protests did not stop. The demonstration that promises to be mass was confirmed next Saturday in Tel Aviv as international concerns about Israel’s economic future are growing.
“In the days and weeks to come – said the protest leadership – the Supreme Court will discuss the annulment of the first law of the dictatorship of Benyamin Netanyahu and Justice Minister Yariv Levin. Each of us has an obligation to continue to oppose and defend the Supreme Court and the State Attorney General in body and spirit.”
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But the powerful Israeli Doctors’ Association has already taken action, going on strike for 24 hours and then stopped only by an injunction from the Courts on the basis of a petition forwarded by Health Minister Moshe Arbel. And many Israeli newspapers (from the liberal Haaretz to the often pro-government Israel Ha-Yom) have appeared with full black front pages on the initiative, for a fee, of ‘Hi-tech protest’, a group of companies in the sector decidedly opposed to reform. At the bottom of the page appears the explicit writing in its wording: «A black day for Israeli democracy. 7/25/2023″.
However, a signal to the government – considered heavy by analysts – was given by the Stock Exchange where the national currency, the shekel, for the second consecutive day depreciated significantly against the dollar and the euro. The Morgan Stanley Bank took the field to reinforce international fears regarding the economic future of post-reform Israel and, according to local media, the Moody’s rating agency will do so in the next few hours. The first warned that “the next few months will be characterized by uncertainty in Israel”, effectively expressing a negative opinion on the political situation.
Protests in Israel against Netanyahu’s justice reform
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Moody’s – one of the major rating agencies – is preparing to publish a negative outlook on the economic evolution in Israel, weakened by an institutional confrontation that has lasted for more than 6 months. Announcements that prompted for the second time – the first occurred in the face of similar judgments in recent weeks – Prime Minister Netanyahu to intervene together with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionism).