Live UpdateFrom the Liveblog of Wednesday, February 8, 2023

Dozens of international economists pen open letter against Israeli judicial overhaul

8 February 2023, 7:45 pm Edit

Paul R. Milgrom, professor at Stanford University, during an interview about winning the Nobel Prize in economics at his home in Palo Alto, California, October 12, 2020. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)

Paul R. Milgrom, professor at Stanford University, during an interview about winning the Nobel Prize in economics at his home in Palo Alto, California, October 12, 2020. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)

Dozens of leading international economists — including multiple Nobel Prize winners — have issued an open letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against his government’s proposal to radically reform the judicial system.

“A strong and independent judiciary is a critical part of a system of checks and balances,” they write. “Undermining it would be detrimental not only to democracy but also to economic prosperity and growth.”

The signatories include 11 Nobel Prize winners, including Peter Diamond of MIT, Oliver Hart of Harvard, Paul Milgrom of Stanford and Edmund Phelps of Columbia.