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Comment by f6v | Hacker News Reader

Is it kind of like “If HE becomes president, I’m moving from the US!” and then nobody actually moves?

No, its more like "If they remove the Supreme court and install political puppets, I'm moving from the US". My example doesn't really work though cause the US supreme court has always been filled by political puppets but for argument's sake assume that wasn't always the case.

To add to this, the supreme court was the only check on the prime minister so removal of court would make Israel like a dictatorship.

The Israeli government isn't proposing to remove the supreme court but rather to limit it's power of judicial review over legislation. That would make it similar to how other parliamentary systems such as the UK operate. I'm not Israeli and don't have an opinion on this issue but let's at least be clear about what's actually happening.

The difference being that other parliamentary systems have many more checks and balances, whereas Israel only has just one: the supreme court. Removing or "limiting" it is akin to making Israel a de facto dictatorship.

Which checks and balances do other parliamentary systems have?

A constitution, a supermajority requirement for passing/changing “base laws” and/or constitutional amendments, multiple chambers of legislature, etc. none of that exists in Israel. The parliament and the elected government is one and the same, there is no constitution and “base laws” can pass with a simple majority. The only judicial check on these laws is the supreme court.

The impression I've gotten talking to tech folks in Israel is that this is very serious, possibly an issue of survival for major tech firms. It's like having your entire manufacturing business based on China when there's serious talk of war.

Extrapolating a bit (and this is just me speculating), my guess is that the moves are happening early due to fear of a last-mover disadvantage. If you sit tight while everyone else heads for the exit, the door might be closed when you get there.

Except for the money is already being moved.

I mean, that’s good. It doesn’t seem like the state of Israel was on the right side even before all this.

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