Just an hour had passed following the unexpected announcement that Prof. Stanley Fischer was stepping down as Governor of the Bank of Israel in June, two years ahead of time, when the first candidate to replace him threw his hat in the ring. Prof. Eran Yashiv is a faculty member of the Eitan Berglas School of Economics at Tel Aviv University and chair of the Public Policy Department.
Yashiv has served as chief economist at the Bank of Israel and most recently was a consultant to the central bank's research division. Sources close to Yashiv say that he is well connected and well thought of in IMF, and US Federal Reserve circles.
However, Yashiv can expect to face a tough field that is likely to include: Assistant Governor of the Bank of Israel Dr. Karnit Flug; Chair of the Planning and Budgeting Committee of the Council for Higher Education in Israel Prof. Manuel Trajtenberg, best known for heading the committee appointed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to recommend reforms following the social justice protests; and head of the National Economic Council Prof. Eugene Kandel. Also mentioned is former Excellene-Nessuah chief economist Shlomo Maoz.
Among academics other than Yashiv with extensive knowledge of monetary matters is Prof. Rafi Melnick of the Interdisciplinary Research Center, Herzliya.
The law does not require a search committee to identify the successor. Indeed Fischer himself was not chosen by such a committee. At the urgings of Netanyahu, he was approached by Yossi Bachar, then director general of the Finance Ministry and Ilan Cohen, then director general of the Prime Minister's Office.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 29, 2013
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