Smotrich says Lapid’s criticism of legal reforms amounts to support for BDS

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Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Monday accused opposition leader Yair Lapid of aiding the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, because Lapid criticized the government’s judicial reform plan as frightening investors away from the Israeli economy.

Referring to a TikTok video Lapid created in which he said investors would choose to send their money to Singapore rather than an Israel with a weakened rule of law, Smotrich said Lapid was hurting Israel’s economy.

I want to address you, Yair,” Smotrich said at the start of the meeting of his party’s faction of Religious Zionism in the Knesset. “You are a former Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, what happened to you? You don’t have a drop of responsibility? Have you become a BDS supporter?

Lapid fired back at the meeting of his own Yesh Atid faction, saying he was “fighting BDS when Smotrich was still a young hill activist”, referring to Smotrich’s past as a settler activist. “I suggest that he use terms he understands the meaning of,” added the leader of the opposition.

Religious Zionism has been a key leader, alongside Justice Minister Yariv Levin, in promoting the new judicial reform platform of the new right-wing, far-right and religious government. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his supporters say the plan to increase political power at the expense of the judiciary will restore the balance in the face of a militant Supreme Court. Lapid and his fellow opposition party leaders have denounced the reforms as undermining democracy and endangering civil liberties.

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Last week, prominent economists, the former Bank of Israel and Netanyahu-appointed economic advisers, tech entrepreneurs and investors raised concerns that the perceived erosion of the rule of law would harm Israel’s economy, drive away customers and investors, and threaten Israel’s credit. rating.

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— (@YinonMagal) January 29, 2023

Lapid reiterated that line, saying Monday that the “price” of judicial reform would be the livelihood of citizens.

“Even those who support this legislation should know that it comes at a price,” the Yesh Atid leader said. “It will harm our livelihoods. This will increase the cost of living. This will turn Israel into a less competitive and less efficient economy. It’s the price. Anyone who claims otherwise is simply lying.

Netanyahu held a special press conference last week to address economic concerns, saying the reforms would strengthen the economy by removing excessive court procedures, but did not specify how. Likewise, the reforms do not yet contain provisions to help solve many legal headaches for businesses, including adding judges to speed up court proceedings.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich leads the meeting of his Religious Zionism faction in the Knesset, January 23, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The leader of Smotrich’s coalition party, Aryeh Deri, also criticized Lapid for his support of BDS. Deri, who leads the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, was sacked from his two cabinet posts last week after the High Court of Justice ruled his appointments ‘unreasonable in the extreme’ in light of his fraud convictions tax.

“I don’t often quote Yair Lapid. “Be an opposition to the government – but don’t be an opposition to the state,” Deri said at the start of the Shas faction meeting in the Knesset. Lapid famously used this phrase to attack Netanyahu’s political bloc, which politically fought Lapid over issues of ideological congruence.

“Fight the government, don’t destroy the State of Israel. You are now doing things like the worst of our rivals, [those who support] BDS and their friends around the world, who harm Israel’s economy and the country’s status,” Deri said.

The Shas leader claimed he had “heard no more arguments about why Yariv Levin’s reform is hurting the economy”, seemingly ignoring public letters and op-eds written by seasoned economists. “In fact, I hear other statements. Excessive legal involvement hurts the economy,” Deri added, referring to Netanyahu’s press conference.

Shas leader Aryeh Deri during a Shas party meeting in the Knesset on January 23, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)

Citing public warnings from economists and former government officials, Lapid said “there is no serious professional who thinks otherwise” about the economic ramifications of the government’s judicial reform plan.

“Against all the professionals, there are only two people who say the opposite: one is a defendant, the other a convict. Prime Minister Netanyahu and ousted minister Aryeh Deri,” the opposition leader added.

“These are the only people who say the legislation won’t hurt the economy, and look, how wonderful, they’re also the people this legislation will personally benefit the most.”

Benny Gantz, who leads the opposition National Unity party, renewed his offer to Netanyahu and Levin to set up an inter-Knesset task force to draft a reform garnering both coalition and opposition support .

Gantz called on them to “stop” and said, “Let’s get to a reform that will make us stronger with a broad agreement.” Besides saying he would raise the proposed threshold for the Knesset to overturn the Supreme Court’s invalidation of a law from 61 to 80 of the 120 lawmakers in the reform bill, Gantz has yet to publicly share a concrete proposal.

Earlier this month, Lapid approached President Isaac Herzog to form an independent group to propose “balanced” judicial reforms.

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