In October 2014, Prof. Rafi Melnick completed his term as a member from among the public, and in October 2015, Prof. Alex Cukierman completed his term.
A search committee headed by Adv. Yehoshua Lemberger decided, after consulting with the Governor, to recommend to the government that Prof. Reuben Gronau be reappointed, and that Prof. Zvi Hercowitz and Prof. Moshe Hazan be appointed as members from among the public on the Monetary Committee. These recommendations come after the Senior Appointments Advisory Committee led by retired Judge Bilha Gilor found the candidates to be fit for service. The Government accepted the committee’s recommendations today, and the appointments are now in effect. The appointments will be valid for a term of four years.
As such, in addition to Bank of Israel Governor Dr. Karnit Flug (Committee Chairman), Deputy Governor Dr. Nadine Baudot-Trajtenberg, and Market Operations Department Director Mr. Andrew Abir, the following members will serve from among the public:
Prof. Reuben Gronau – Professor Emeritus in the Economics Department at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Chairman of the Falk Institute for Economic Research, and Chairman of the Public Council for Statistics. Prof. Gronau is among the senior economic researchers in Israel. He has won the Landau Prize for Israeli Economics, and the Mincer Price for lifetime contribution to labor economics. Prof. Gronau has served on many public committees, and has been instrumental in designing the pricing systems for public monopolies.
Prof. Zvi Hercowitz – A professor at the Tiomkin School of Economics at the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center, and Professor Emeritus at the Eitan Berglas School of Economics, Tel Aviv University. Prof. Hercowitz has served as a consultant to the Bank of Israel Research Department, was a guest researcher at the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States, and has published many articles in the fields of macroeconomics, monetary policy, and the financial system.
Prof. Moshe Hazan – An associate professor at Tel Aviv University’s Eitan Berglas School of Economics, and research fellow at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) in London. Prof. Hazan serves as Associate Editor of the Macroeconomic Dynamics periodical, and as Chairman of the Pinhas Sapir Economic Policy Forum. His studies focus on the interaction between demographic developments and gender differences and economic growth and inequality.
Bank of Israel Governor Dr. Karnit Flug welcomed the government’s decision to appoint the members from among the public to serve on the Monetary Committee, and thanked the members of the search committee for their in-depth professional work over the past few months.