'Israel' is on path of major economic decline: Israeli economist

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Israeli media
17 Jul 2023 20:25

The former Deputy Governor of the Bank of "Israel" says the judicial overhaul affects the desire of high-tech companies to invest in "Israel".

The headquarters of the Bank of "Israel" in occupied Al-Quds, on August 23, 2022 (AFP)

Former Deputy Governor of the Bank of "Israel", Zvi Eckstein, warned on Monday that "Israel" is on the path of a massive economic decline that will harm all Israelis, Israeli media reported.

During an interview for the Israeli channel Kan, Eckstein indicated that the judicial overhaul legislation threatens the authoritarian structure in "Israel", as well as the "national" consensus.

He pointed out that the judicial overhaul threatens the security capabilities in "Israel" and affects the desire of high-tech companies to invest in it, especially foreign investors.

Eckstein noted that "Israel" has a dramatic decline in high-tech investments compared to previous years, adding that the market shows uncertainty and a decline in economic activity.

In a previous interview for CNBC, the Israeli economist explained that "most of the growth of the Israeli economy, about 40%, was generated by the high tech sector," pointing out to an 80% decline in investment in the Israeli occupation's startup and growth companies, as well as the lack of growth in the Israeli occupation's stock market over the last half a year.

"Within a year, we will see a big, large slowdown in the economy … I see a huge drop going all the way to a recession in the next year," Eckstein predicted.

Anti-overhaul protest to shift from 'disruption' to 'paralysis': Media

This comes as Israeli media reported about the plans that Israeli settlers intend to carry out next week, which will shift from "disruption" to "paralysis", in the hope of increasing pressure on the Israeli government to halt the judicial overhaul that it intends to approve.

The Israeli news website Haaretz said, "The planned measures include increasing the number of military reservists who will stop showing up for service and using pressure from large corporations and trade unions to bring the economy to a halt."

The news website indicated that the organizers of the protests are planning continuous activities starting from the so-called "day of disruption" on Tuesday until next Monday, when the Israeli Knesset may hold the second and third votes on the reasonableness standard bill -- a bill intended at barring judges from dismissing or debating government and ministerial actions based on their "reasonableness".

The coalition of Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hopes to have the bill signed into law by the end of the month.

It added that "protest leaders are expected to meet early this week with senior figures in the economy over a shutdown, and they plan to increase the pressure on the chair of the Histadrut labor federation, Arnon Bar David."

Haaretz quoted a protest organizer as saying that starting Tuesday, the protests will slow "Israel" down, and from Thursday "we’ll move toward a total strike ahead of the third" Knesset vote on the reasonableness standard bill.

According to the news website, the organizers of the protests planned "targeted but mass actions" for Tuesday, similar to a demonstration that roamed the occupied city of Haifa last week, which witnessed blocking roads in the morning and a protest outside government headquarters in the evening.

On Wednesday and Thursday, protests are planned outside the homes of MKs and Histadrut chair Bar David, as well as marches and protests in several other occupied Palestinian cities, Haaretz mentioned.

In a related context, Haaretz reported that proponents of the reasonableness standard bill plan to demonstrate in "Tel Aviv" next Sunday, adding that the organizers of the protests are set to stage a counter-demonstration in response.

"Staff at protest headquarters are also preparing for the possibility that the legislative schedule may be delayed, in which case some of the planned actions for the coming week may be postponed. In any case, the demonstrations are expected to continue even if the law passes," the news website pointed out.