Moody’s ‘wake-up call’: Tel Aviv Stock Exchange head warns of looming financial crisis

In a strongly worded appeal, the head of Israel’s stock exchange urged the government on Wednesday to come to its senses or else face a downgrade of the country’s economy by credit-rating agencies and a financial crisis.

A day after Moody’s Investors Service warned about “negative consequences” and “significant risk” for Israel’s economy following the passage of the first bill of the government’s contested judicial overhaul, Ittai Ben-Zeev, the chief executive of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, issued a direct plea to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

“Talk to Moody’s and other international credit rating companies and do what is necessary to prevent a downgrade that would be destructive to everything that has been built here with great effort and talent for many years,” Ben-Zeev said in a statement. “No plan to strengthen the Israeli economy will help, if the rating goes down.” READ MORE