The Haaretz wannabe online newspaper Times of Israel crescendoed the fight against “regime revolution” Sunday morning with an article relying largely on a tweet by one Noga Tarnopolsky, who calls herself an Israel and Palestine reporter and has been featured on the Daily Beast and the New York Times. Tarnopolsky tweeted: “255 US Jewish business leaders, with billions of dollars in Israel, warn Netanyahu they will halt Israel investments if he pursues his régime change plan. Among them: Gene Ludwig, Jeff Feig, Tom Glocer, former Treasury Undersecretary Jeffrey Goldstein.”
#Breaking: 255 US Jewish business leaders, with billions of dollars in Israel, warn Netanyahu they will halt Israel investments if he pursues his régime change plan. Among them: Gene Ludwig, Jeff Feig, Tom Glocer, former Treasury Undersecretary Jeffrey Goldstein. @AmalyaDuek pic.twitter.com/jhJ9fU2tnq
— Noga Tarnopolsky נגה טרנופולסקי نوغا ترنوبولسكي (@NTarnopolsky) March 12, 2023
Alas, despite several requests from her followers, Tarnopolsky did not reveal the names of the other 251 Jewish investors who, essentially threatened the prime minister of Israel with BDS action, should he not succumb to their demands. Perhaps this was because many of the states where Jewish investors reside have laws against BDS targeting Israel.
After introducing themselves as Israel supporters who are “doing meaningful business with Israel,” and have been the Jewish state’s ambassadors of goodwill, the four identified men and their illusive 251 associates lay down their unambiguous threat, should Netanyahu not suspend at once his government’s judicial reform legislation:
If that’s not a threat of divestment, the “D” in BDS, I don’t know what is.
The Times of Israel presents all of the above, but skips the part about this being a ransom note, and offers this explanation instead: “Netanyahu’s government has pushed ahead with plans to pass legislation that will sharply curtail the judiciary’s ability to act as a check on government power. The proposed changes have sparked massive protests, and warnings that investors jittery over the tumult will stop infusing money into Israel’s economy.”
Let’s unpack: the proposed judicial reform is an attempt to curtail the complete control of the judiciary, unelected as it is, over every facet of Israeli society: the high court has intervened directly in the appointment of the Knesset Speaker, a law establishing contracts for natural gas exploitation, a practice that disregards the text of commercial contracts in favor of judicial interpretation, compelling the IDF Chief of Staff to reverse a decision on appointing a general, eliminating whole communities based on unproven documentation, annulling ministerial appointments – if there’s an area of Israeli life that hasn’t been taken over by the court at one time or another, please tell me so I could move there.
As to the part about jittery investors who are frightened by the tumult: Max Raskin wrote in the Wall Street Journal on Sunday (Moody’s Takes Sides in Israeli Politics): “This could be another case in which Moody’s is skating to where the puck is, not where it’s going to be. But in its report, the company almost seems to be making a self-fulfilling prophecy: Moody’s says it may need to downgrade Israel’s credit because of potential capital outflow, but one of the reasons economists and entrepreneurs oppose the reforms is that the country may lose its credit rating. In other words, Moody’s is taking a political side.”
Raskin offers many more wise observations, I heartily recommend reading the whole thing, but, you know, this is my article…
The four known Jewish gentlemen and the 251 others conclude their threatening note with this paragraph:
Here’s a question that immediately comes to mind: broad consensus with whom? The opposition has been relentlessly repeating the mantra of no negotiations while the legislation is not suspended at once. The new legislation offers checks and balances galore – but you need to read it to understand. And, finally, how dare you talk about promoting political, social, and economic stability when you aim a gun at the PM’s head?
A word of advice: as the US economy appears to be matching the 2008 slide rate, it might be wise for Jewish American investors to move their money to Israeli banks while they can. You know from experience that after two banks collapse, more are going to follow…
