Amnon Shashua urges strict separation of powers

Mobileye Global Inc. (Nasdaq: MBLY) Chief Executive Officer Professor Amnon Shashua has expressed himself several times on social media over the past month on the subject of the Israeli government’s planned judicial reform, but he did so last night in front of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Speaking at the ceremony at which he was awarded the Israel Prize for his life work, he said: “We must join hands and solve the crisis with strict adherence to the principle of separation of powers and respect for all state institutions: legislative, executive and judicial authorities. This is so that we do not lose everything we have accomplished. If we do not We know how to do it, even miracles will not help.

Shashua is one of the leaders of the tech industry in Israel who has not joined the protests against judicial reform. Others include Check Point CEO Gil Schwed, founder of Palo Alto Networks and CTO Nir Zuk. Shashua’s “official” statements were previously vague and general. “Many seem to agree that judicial reform in Israel is needed,” he wrote on LinkedIn in February, adding, “But how is it right to implement reform in a country as complex as ours? When you are a leader it is important to be careful. The price of error is in Carrying out too much unwise reform. Don’t rush. Stop. Take your time to think, deliberate, consult, and examine the consequences with an open heart and mind.”

Earlier this month, Shashua and Mobileye had to issue a clarification after it came out frank during a discussion about keeping user data on servers in Israel. Shashua believes that Mobileye will have to move more operations outside of Israel, following EU demands to preserve user data in countries recognized as democratic. After his statements were leaked to Channel 12 news, the company confirmed that “Mobileye did not and does not think of leaving Israel.” Previously, he had to post an explanation regarding an incident that occurred in the company. “I make sure not to express political positions despite the pressure on me to do so,” he wrote in March, “on the understanding that I represent all of you. The company’s employees represent all sectors of the Israeli people—a very admirable representation.” After one of his employees lectured against legal reform of his own accord and presented a hostile legal stance. Chashua tried to get away from the protest but she found a way into his offices. He wrote: “I understand that the lecture caused a sense of unease in some of the employees who participated in it or heard about it, I regret it and acknowledge that there was an error of judgment – in the main – when we agreed to the lecture.”

At the Israel Prize Ceremony, Shashua also spoke about artificial intelligence, which is expected to harm many professions and change many industries. One of his portfolio companies is AI21 Labs, which has developed a natural language processing model that provides Amazon with equivalent language capabilities granted by Microsoft’s OpenAI. “The world is advancing rapidly and we have no time for procrastination. We live in a time when technological transformations are happening at a tremendous speed. Computing technologies are on their way to crossing a critical threshold for humanity. Computers are becoming machines that can be thought partners for humans. Countries and societies that will not be able to Understanding the magnitude of the revolution in time will lag behind and save the loggers and water-carriers for those who have managed to understand the magnitude of the hour.”

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on April 27, 2023.

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