​(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)
 
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, today (Tuesday, 9 October), announced their decision to appoint Prof. Amir Yaron as the next Governor of the Bank of Israel.
 
Prime Minister Netanyahu:
 
"In recent months the Finance Minister and I have held consultations, discussions and interviews with four excellent candidates for the position of Governor of the Bank of Israel. I think that it would be difficult to find people who are more qualified, each one in his field, each one brings something special, and therefore the deliberations were difficult and serious.
 
I am pleased to inform you that we have decided that Prof. Amir Yaron from the [University of Pennsylvania] Wharton School of Business in the US is the most suited for the position of Governor of the Bank of Israel.
 
Prof. Yaron serves as a professor of finance at the Wharton School of Business, which is very well-known and among the best in the world. He is considered one of the greatest experts in the world in financial economics. He is well-known thanks to the research he has done in macro-economics, finance, asset pricing and investments. The Bansal-Yaron model, which he developed along with Prof. Ravi Bansal, focuses on long-term risks. It is considered one of the leading investment pricing models, and has won prestigious awards. It was reviewed at the 2013 Nobel Economic Prize Conference as one of the models that influenced Nobel Laureate Prof. Lars Peter Hansen who also used Prof. Yaron's research.
 
Prof. Yaron is also a guest researcher at leading universities around the world, at the IMF, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, and, of course, at the Bank of Israel. I must say that he has maintained continuous contacts through the years with the academe in Israel and, as you see, with the Bank of Israel. No less important is that he served for five years as an officer in the Chief-of-Staff's economic advisory branch.
 
What is important here – he brings academic ability that is among the highest in the world, but he also has hands-on experience in moving money from place to place as someone who has indeed dealt with practical economic problems. It is like learning how to ride a bicycle. These are very important matters. I believe that this combination is very important.
 
I am familiar to you as someone who has always thought that it is necessary to seek out the greatest talents in the world. I recommended bringing Prof. Stanley Fischer as Governor of the Bank of Israel. I tried – I tell you this if you do not know – to also bring Larry Summers, one of the greatest economists in the world, for this position and I also spoke with others, names that are no less known to you. I think that it is our obligation to always search for the greatest talents that are out there, and I am very pleased that Prof. Yaron has acceded to the request from me and the Finance Minister, to come here. As I have told you, he always maintained connections with the State of Israel. I remind you that in Great Britain they have – time and again – appointed governors that they brought from Canada, because this job requires, of course, the ability to recruit the most talented people.
 
I believe that Prof. Yaron will lead the Bank of Israel responsibly, professionally, with great wisdom, with an understanding of the new economy, and, on the other hand, will facilitate stability in the Israeli financial and monetary system. A decade ago this system survived the great crisis, and did so very successfully, and I am certain that under his leadership it will continue to meet these challenges and provide for the continued growth and great momentum of the Israeli economy.
 
The Finance Minister and I are constantly working on developing the economy, on jumping it forward, on new reforms. To the same degree we want to ensure that the Bank of Israel is led by someone with great ability, with independence and with first-class professionalism. I think that Prof. Yaron meets all of these criteria.
 
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Governor of the Bank of Israel Karnit Flug for her dedicated and excellent service, out of deep appreciation and gratitude from all of us."
 
Finance Minister Kahlon:
 
"There were four excellent candidates and having to choose among them was difficult. Thorough and responsible work was carried out to find the appropriate candidate. Our job is to look forward and choose a governor who will solve the problems of the future and Prof. Amir Yaron is the most suitable candidate.
 
The Israel economy is in places that we have not known – high growth, low unemployment and a shrinking debt-to-GNP ratio. It is important to us that the heads of the national institutions be the right people who will work closely with us in dealing with the economic challenges that come.
 
I would like to thank Dr. Karnit Flug for the period in which we worked together; there were both ups and downs.
 
We maintained the dignity of the candidates during the selection process, which reflects united and responsible leadership.
 
I hope the new Bank of Israel management will be a partner in the economic revolution that has overtaken the State of Israel in recent years."
 
Please click here for Prof. Yaron's curriculum vitae.