Israeli tech entrepreneurs don ‘Save our democracy’ T-shirts at NYSE opening bell
CEOs and founders of tech firms protest overhaul at stock exchange, concerned legislation will spark flight of capital from Israel
Michael Horovitz is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel
Israeli high-tech entrepreneurs displayed T-shirts reading “Save our democracy” after they opened the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, in protest of the Israeli government’s judicial overhaul.
Israeli Mapped in NY, which tracks Israeli firms in New York, was invited to ring the bell. After CEO and founder Guy Franklin rang the bell, the entrepreneurs put on the shirts.
“Obviously, mixed feelings coming here today,” Franklin told i24news. “But to see the strength of the founders and the companies, it shows that Israeli tech has strong roots here in New York, not only in Israel, and the founders will do everything they can in order to succeed, which is why today was mixed feelings, but also a celebration of Israel in innovation.”
High-tech workers in Israel have been prominent participants in mass nationwide protests against the coalition’s judicial overhaul plans, concerned that the legislation will endanger democracy and lead investors to withdraw their capital from the country.
Credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service on Tuesday warned about “negative consequences” and “significant risk” for Israel’s economy and security situation following the passage of the first bill of the government’s contested judicial overhaul.
The agency said some of its earlier concerns regarding the proposed reforms’ impact on Israel’s economy are also starting to materialize, notably, a decline in venture capital investments in high-tech.
“I think everybody is feeling the effects,” CEO and founder of Cyera, Yotam Segev, who was at the NYSE, told i24.
“When people make substantial investments, they want to feel like it’s a good investment, like it’s a safe investment, and investors are worried, they don’t understand what’s happening in Israel, they’re asking more and more questions. They’re asking themselves, is this the place we want to put our capital, that we see the economy striving and going forward? And I think that the government is making it very hard for them to say, a clear yes that they’ve been saying for the last 10 or 20 years,” he said.
Itamar Ben Hemo, CEO and founder of Rivery, said that it’s “not easy, what’s happening with the government,” for both sides of the debate, adding that his teams are sticking together during the divisive period.
The coalition on Monday passed a bill preventing judges from striking down government decisions on the basis of being “unreasonable” — a move that was met with mass nationwide protests. The government’s critics say eliminating the judicial standard of reasonability opens the door to corruption and improper appointments of unqualified cronies to important positions.
Proponents of the bill argued that nixing the use of the “reasonableness” doctrine was needed to halt excessive judicial interference in government decisions, arguing that this amounts to unelected judges substituting their own judgment for that of elected officials. They also say there are other judicial doctrines that will allow judges to evaluate politicians’ decisions.
