Two former Bank of Israel governors, Karnit Flug and Jacob Frenkel, joined warnings Sunday that the government’s plans for a sweeping overhaul of the country’s judiciary could negatively affect Israel’s credit rating, and “deal a severe blow to the economy and its citizens.”
In a joint op-ed in the Yedioth Aharonoth daily, Flug, who served a five-year term as the central bank chief ending in 2018, and Frenkel, who was in the role between 1991 and 2000, cautioned that the changes proposed by Justice Minister Yariv Levin are expected to have a snowball effect.
“The weakening of the judiciary system (…) is expected to lead to a decrease in the willingness of foreign investors to invest in Israel, and an increase in the cost of raising funds for the Israeli government as a result of a possible downgrading in the country’s credit rating,” Flug and Frenkel…