'No danger to Israeli democracy' from judicial reform, Ofir Akunis says
The innovation, science, and technology minister staunchly asserted his belief that the judicial reforms will only further enable Israel’s democratic process.
“There is no danger to Israeli democracy,” said Innovation, Science and Technology Minister Ofir Akunis when asked about the government’s proposed judicial reform during an interview at The Jerusalem Post Annual Conference in New York.
The current government’s proposed judicial reform has been met with much criticism from economists, tech executives and international credit rating agencies around the world. They argue that by undermining the authority of Israel’s High Court of Justice, the reform stands to negatively impact foreign investors’ willingness to invest in the country’s hi-tech ecosystem, which is a primary engine in Israel’s economy.
Akunis responded to the concerns raised by protesters, saying “It's part of Israeli democracy. There is no danger to Israeli democracy and I will repeat this message again and again and again.”
“I think that democracy is the will of the people, and last November Israeli citizens, all of them, Jewish, Arabs, Christians, Muslims — not all of them, but most of them — just voted and it is reflected in the results of the elections,” he added. “Now we can debate on a lot of issues, security policy, judicial reform — but it must be a part of a democratic debate. So if someone wants to demonstrate, okay, no problem. But everybody should respect the results of the elections, because this is a real democracy.”
Ofir Akunis: Israeli food-tech is the future
Akunis then spoke on his position on creating a national plan for the advancement of food-tech. “Food-tech is the next cyber. This is the future,” he said, noting that he plans to discuss the development of a business park dedicated to food-tech.
He went on to note that one of the primary hurdles standing in the way of food-tech’s advancement is excessive regulation. “There is too much regulation in Israel. This is my position. We need to cut down Israeli bureaucracy, and [several ministries] are talking among themselves [to do so]. We are not doing things alone, because we are a very, very stable government. And we want to work for the benefit of the Israeli economy and the Israeli people.”
Referring to Israel’s space industry and its progress, Akunis stated “I am very proud of the Israeli space industry. It's under my responsibility as a minister of science and technology. The Israel Space Agency cooperates a lot with NASA, and I think the relationship between ISA and NASA reflects a strong collaboration.”