Ex-Federal Reserve chair Bernanke warns judicial overhaul may cause ‘tremendous damage’

Former US Federal Reserve chair Ben Bernanke warns of economic fallout from the government’s plans for upending the judiciary.

In comments to Channel 13 news, Bernanke says that as a small economy, Israel is dependent upon internal trade and investment “to grow and prosper.”

Bernanke, who last year won a Nobel Prize in economics, adds that the proposed changes will cause “tremendous damage to security of foreign investors, trading partners and Israeli entrepreneurs as a result of the sudden institutional changes that will increase uncertainty, create legal and political risks and endanger the rights of minorities.”

“To ensure that Israel’s extraordinary success continues, it must move slowly and build broad consensus regarding any significant change in the judicial system or in its system of government,” he says.

With the remarks, Bernanke joins an extended list of internationally renowned economists who have warned against the far-reaching changes to the judicial system.