Ex-Bank of Israel chief warns judicial overhaul ‘destroying the Zionist enterprise from within’

18 March 2023, 9:23 pm

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Former Bank of Israel Governor Jacob Frenkel, left, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a press conference at the Knesset in Jerusalem, June 24, 2013. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Jacob Frenkel, a former Bank of Israel chief who until recently chaired JP Morgan Chase International, warns that the coalition’s far-reaching plans for overhauling the judicial system are “destroying the Zionist enterprise from within.”

Speaking at the main protest in Tel Aviv, Frenkel says the judicial overhaul will cause Israel severe economic consequences.

“Our friends are surprised and wonder how a country that was an object of envy and admiration, is destroying the Zionist enterprise by hand in an extreme way from within, and all this in less than three months,” he is quoted as saying by the Haaretz daily.

“The consequences will be felt by every citizen,” Frekel says.

In a “personal call” to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Frenkel says: “You know me well. When you were first elected 27 years ago, you offered me to be your finance minister. I served as [Bank of Israel] chief, and after a decade you offered me to return for another term. I also know you well and appreciate your achievements, so I know that you are aware that the reform — or what you called a reform — puts all your years in office at risk.”