Netanyahu rips Israel's Supreme Court as 'most activist court on the planet,' doubles down on judicial reforms

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back against critics of his proposed judicial reforms on Wednesday, arguing that his initiative to correct the "imbalance" between Israel's branches of government will only bolster the country's economy as protests break out across the Jewish state. 

In an interview on FOX Business Network, "Kudlow" host Larry Kudlow told viewers that the judicial overhaul proposed by Netanyahu's ring-wing government could "save Israel’s economy and its national security."

Critics say the reforms, which would limit the Supreme Court's power to overturn Knesset laws and assert stronger control over judicial appointments, will have negative ramifications on an economy still reeling from the pandemic. But Netanyahu told "Kudlow" he is confident that balancing what he described as the "most activist judicial court on the planet" will further promote Israeli innovation and could increase the country's annual GDP.

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"I think it will help the Israeli economy in a major way. I think it will add actually 1 to 2 percent of extra growth to our GDP every year. Because you’re releasing this heavy boot on this coiled spring of Israeli initiative, and the spring will uncoil and the Israeli economy will be even stronger than it is today – and it is very strong," Netanyahu said.

Tightening the power of the unelected judiciary will promote equilibrium between Israel's branches of government, Netanyahu said, emphasizing the role of checks and balances in a thriving democracy.   

"The main problem is that the functioning of a proper democracy requires a balance between the three branches of government, legislative, executive, and judicial," he argued. "In Israel, that balance has been taken off the rails. What we’re trying to do is put it back in. We probably have the most activist judicial court on the planet…and this has taken the price of our economy. When you have excessive litigation, it is like overregulation. It prolongs business deals, it prevents you from doing infrastructure projects, cuts into the economy. You have armies of lawyers … we’re trying to bring it back."

"The decisions on the economy, the decisions on military matters, the decisions on many other matters should be left to the government that is elected by the people," Netanyahu continued. "Let the people decide. If you make the wrong decisions you will be booted out. It happened to me once, but I was re-elected for the sixth time…to have this judicial reform to bring back Israel to where just about all the democracies are today, a balance between the three branches of government."

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The reforms have become the subject of contentious debate across Israel, where protesters have taken to the streets over concerns with the proposed judicial overhaul. Opponents say the move would give too much power to Netanyahu's coalition government and would threaten Israel's democratic values while damaging the country's economy.

Still, Netanyahu said he believes "most people agree that it is time to correct this imbalance that has happened in the last 20 years and has become a real issue in the public."

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"I hear these protests say this is going to hurt the Israeli economy. No it’s not," he asserted. "All these countries that have the kind reforms, they don’t even need reforms that we’re installing, that have a good balance between the three branches of government. They’re perfect democracies. Canada is a perfect democracy. Britain is a perfect democracy. The European democracies are perfect democracies. America is a perfect democracy. In many ways, we’re the outlier," he told Kudlow. 

"I think we have to come back to the fold of what are common, proven, best practices of the balance of the three branches of government."