Richard Epstein Writes About Israel’s Proposed Judicial Reforms

 

Israel’s Proposed Judicial Reforms Aren’t ‘Extreme’

Richard A. Epstein - Max Raskin 

January 29, 2023 The Wall Street Journal

Hundreds of Israeli economists signed an “emergency letter” on Jan. 25 warning that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposed judicial reforms will lead to economic calamity for the country. The authors worry about putting “great political power in the hands of a ruling group without strong brakes and balances.”

This statement is notable for two reasons. First, many of these economists supported political parties that opposed Mr. Netanyahu’s free-market reforms while he was finance minister from 2003 to 2005. These reforms have allowed the country’s economy to boom for almost two decades. 

Second, Israel’s unelected Supreme Court—not the Knesset, its elected parliament—is the branch of government that actually holds unchecked political power. Rather than endangering economic growth, these proposed judicial reforms provide a necessary check on the one court in the Western world with nearly unlimited power to dictate economic and political life.

The economists mischaracterize Mr. Netanyahu’s proposed reforms as an attack on the independence of the judiciary. But judicial independence does not mean a judiciary independent from constraints. As it stands, the Israeli Supreme Court’s dominance over the Knesset is unrivaled by any other parliamentary or presidential system.