Former Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) CEO Shlomo Yanai has been appointed vice chairman of the Rothschild Caesarea Foundation. Baroness Ariane de Rothschild personally chose Yanai, during a visit of a few hours to Israel two weeks ago. Yanai will succeed Adv. David Efrati.
Several politicians who lost their seats in the January Knesset elections vied for the post, including Dalia Itzik and Yaakov Edery from Kadima, and Shalom Simhon from Ha'atzma'ut. Until a few weeks ago, Itzik was considered a shoe-in, mainly because of close ties with some of her associates with Baron Benjamin de Rothschild, who serves as the foundation's chairman.
Yanai originally denied that he was a candidate for the job, when asked several days ago.
The Rothschild family and the State of Israel own the Rothschild Caesarea Foundation in equal shares. The foundation owns assets worth billions of shekels and has an annual profit of tens of millions of shekels through its two subsidiaries, the Caesarea Edmond Benjamin de Rothschild Corporation, and the Caesare Development Corporation, which have billions of shekels in liquid capital, most of which under the agreement between the government and the Rothschilds are to be donated for educational programs.
There are several longstanding disputes between the government and the Baron de Rothschild over the Rothschild Caesarea Foundation's tax exempt status granted by President Shimon Peres when he was finance minister. In 2008, the Israel Tax Authority issued a NIS 150 million tax assessment against the foundation, and negotiations with the foundation and the Rothschilds have continued ever since. There is also disquiet about the management of the foundation's money and how it fulfills its mission, reflected in a report by the State Comptroller.
Both the Ministry of Finance and the Government Companies Authority, to which the Rothschild Caesarea Foundation is supposed to be subject to, have spoken out against the foundation's search for and appointment of a vice chairman. Baroness de Rothschild appointed a search committee comprising only her aides, and did not notify the government of the search's progress, the selection process or the identity of the position holder. It is, however, hard to imagine Minister of Finance Yuval Steinitz or his successor rejecting Baroness de Rothschild's appointment of Yanai.
The choice of Yanai, a businessman, over former politicians with ties to the government and the Knesset, may indicate a new a more business-oriented direction by the Rothschild Caesarea Foundation.
"I thank Baroness Ariane de Rothschild and Baron Benjamin de Rothschild for the confidence in choosing me. I see this job as an important public mission, and I will do my best to achieve the Rothschild Caesarea Foundation's important goals and its longstanding contribution to Israeli society," said Yanai.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 17, 2013
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