Bank heads, business chiefs to PM: Halt overhaul ‘turning Israel into dictatorship’

A forum of top business leaders tells Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the government’s judicial overhaul will “turn Israel into a dictatorship,” calling for it to be halted.

The signatories from the Israel Business Forum include the heads of some of the country’s most successful businesses, as well as the top executives of five banks.

“We call on you to immediately stop the planned legislative moves, chief among them the law to change the committee for the selection of judges,” reads the letter, referring to the judicial appointments bill that will cement the government’s control over the selection of most judges, including High Court justices.

“This law seriously harms the legal system and undermines the foundations of democracy based on the separation of powers and the independence of the legal system, and turns Israel into a dictatorship,” reads the letter, according to Channel 12 news.

“This move will seriously damage Israel’s economy, and beyond that it will damage Israeli society as a whole, its resilience, its security and its values,” the letter charges.

“The forum rejects with disgust the threats and attacks on the gatekeepers in Israel, the High Court of Justice, legal adviser, the IDF, the Shin Bet and the police,” the letter adds.