As a long-standing and staunch supporter of Israel, billionaire and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is worried about the judicial review legislative agenda that Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to push through.
In an opinion piece in The New York Times, he decries the new coalition’s proposal, that would make it possible that a simple majority of the Knesset could overrule the nation’s Supreme Court and abrogate individual rights, including on matters such as speech and press freedoms, equal rights for minorities and voting rights. “The Knesset could even go as far as to declare that the laws it passes are unreviewable by the judiciary, a move that calls to mind Richard Nixon’s infamous phrase, “When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal,” he adds.
He believes that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is courting disaster and endangering “Israel’s alliances around the world, its security in the region, its economy at home and the very democracy upon which the country was built.”
He points to the economic damage that is already being felt: the beating that the shekel is taking, the business leaders and investors who have spoken out against the government’s proposal, and the alarming trend that some people have already begun pulling money out of the country and re-evaluating their plans for future growth there.
He points out that it’s not just about the economy; such a scenario weakens the country’s standing and security on a global scale. Israel’s security is based partly on a relationship with the United States built on shared values — freedom, equality, democracy — that can only be sustained by a commitment to the rule of law, including an independent judiciary capable of upholding it. If Israel moves its model of governance toward one that mirrors those of authoritarian countries, it risks weakening its ties to the United States and other free nations.
That would be a devastating loss for Israel’s security, harm prospects for a peaceful resolution of the Palestinian conflict and could even endanger the future of the Jewish homeland, Bloomberg points out.
Israel is in one of the world’s most contested and hazardous areas, facing threats from Iran and others that Mr. Netanyahu rightly calls existential. The current debates raging in the country—indeed, there are protests on the streets—exacerbate division at home, making it appear more vulnerable to its enemies.
Bloomberg ends his opinion piece expressing the hope that: “Mr. Netanyahu will convince his coalition of the need to heed President Isaac Herzog’s plea to pull back and slow down.”
