Moody's sends message to Netanyahu, lowers 'Israel' credit outlook
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Moody's risk assessment firm downgrades the Israeli occupation's credit outlook, sending a clear message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
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Signage is seen outside the Moody's Corporation headquarters in Manhattan, New York, the United States, November 12, 2021 (Reuters)
Moody's global risk assessment agency downgraded the Israeli occupation's economic outlook to "stable" after it was "positive" amid several crises affecting the Israeli occupation.
Moody's said its sovereign credit rating for the Israeli occupation was "A1", which made the decrease shocking, though many financial and economic experts had warned of the decision in light of the plight of crises facing the Israeli occupation.
"The change of outlook to stable from positive reflects a deterioration of Israel’s governance, as illustrated by the recent events around the government’s proposal for overhauling the country’s judiciary," the renowned firm wrote.
Moreover, it asserted that "the manner in which the government has attempted to implement a wide-ranging reform without seeking broad consensus points to a weakening of institutional strength and policy predictability. As a result, the risks on Israel’s rating are now balanced, leading to a stable outlook."
The statement stressed that "all in all, the recent events offset the positive developments that had led Moody’s to assign a positive outlook in April 2022, which related to strong economic and fiscal performance and the implementation of structural reforms by the previous government."
The Israeli occupation had only gained the "positive" status in April 2022, saying at the time the government's reform agenda was a key reason behind the decision, as well as its expectations that the government was going to reduce its debt ratio.
Ahead of the rating being made public, Israeli media reported that the Israeli occupation's premier and President Isaac Herzog spoke to agency officials to try and convince them of reversing their decision to no avail.
Israeli economists back in March issued a warning that they are at the crack of a financial meltdown and that Netanyahu’s hard-right coalition could have grave implications for the economy.
Political divisions in "Israel" between the government and the opposition were and still escalating in light of the exchange of accusations of responsibility for the possible outbreak of an "internal war", as "Israel" is witnessing demonstrations held by thousands of settlers against the government of Benjamin Netanyahu amid its push for a judicial overhaul.
Israelis demonstrated against the new Israeli occupation government and some of its extremist ministers such as Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich, as per Israeli media.
Read next: Israeli police use force to disperse protesters: Israeli media
Protestors argued that Netanyahu aims to use the reforms in order to deflect a series of charges against him that date back to 2019, charges which include fraud, bribery, and breach of trust, whereas the opposition in "Israel" condemned the reforms as a means of "canceling the courts."
Following the publishing of Moody's statement, Netanyahu and his far-right coalition ally, Bezalel Smotrich, issued a statement responding to the downgrade of the Israeli occupation's economic outlook.
"The Israeli economy is stable and firm and with the help of God it will remain so," the statement claimed. "The Moody’s ranking analysts correctly recognize the strength of the Israeli economy in all the indices and the correct and responsible economic leadership that we lead in wise management of public expenditure and promoting growth reforms."
"The fear of Moody’s analysts from public controversy and its influence on Israel’s political and economic stability is natural for those who do not know the resilience of Israeli society," the statement further read.
"There will be no harm to Israeli democracy and the Israeli economy. And we will continue to lead an economic, security and social policy and do everything for a stable, growing and prosperous Israeli economy," the statement boldly concluded.
The statement has already begun drawing mass criticism, with technology workers issuing a statement saying, "The coup d'etat and the conduct of the government are harming the Israeli economy and hi-tech."
"They who smugly ignored all the warnings of the economists and heads of industries [...] will be guilty of destroying the value of hi-tech and the economy and harming security, health, education and every Israeli citizen," the statement added.
Even former Israeli finance minister Avigdor Lieberman commented on the response, condemning the government for its mishandling of Israeli finances during its short tenure.
"It’s not just that Moody’s is downgrading the credit rating. Everyone’s going to look at the electricity bills they pay, the prices in the supermarket, the mortgages [and realize] – all this happened in three months," Liberman stressed.
"We left the economy on December 31 with a surplus of NIS 10 billion in the account [...] Someone here has managed to crush the economy, society and security," he concluded.
Lieberman had accused on Friday Netanyahu and his far-right government of being "incapable of confrontation."
"He has nearly fully destroyed Israeli deterrence," he said about the Israeli premier. "Today, the situation today is worse than it was before the Yum Kippur war [1973 October war], and the problem is, no one here can manage the crisis."
