Flug nomination wins nod from top vetting panel

First female governor of the Bank of Israel set to be approved by cabinet vote Sunday after receiving Turkel committee approval

Marissa Newman is The Times of Israel political correspondent.

Newly nominated Bank of Israel governor-designate Karnit Flug delivers a statement to the media outside the central bank's headquarters in Jerusalem, October 20, 2013. (photo credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Newly nominated Bank of Israel governor-designate Karnit Flug delivers a statement to the media outside the central bank's headquarters in Jerusalem, October 20, 2013. (photo credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Karnit Flug’s nomination for Bank of Israel governor was approved Wednesday by the formal vetting committee for senior government officials headed by former Supreme Court justice Jacob Turkel.

The high-level commission met this week with Flug, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Yair Lapid. Following its approval, Flug’s nomination is set to receive its final approval in the cabinet meeting Sunday. She will become the first woman to serve as head of Israel’s central bank.

Flug has served as acting governor of the Bank of Israel since the resignation of Stanley Fischer from the post at the end of June. Fischer recommended her nomination to the prime minister on several occasions.

On October 20, after months of failed attempts to fill the position, Netanyahu and Lapid announced Flug’s selection for the post and said in a joint statement, “We have been impressed by Dr. Flug’s performance as acting governor in recent months and we are certain that she will continue to assist us in spurring the Israeli economy to additional achievements in the face of the global economic upheaval.”

Flug only received the job after several other candidates either declined or were forced out of the running by complaints and scandals. According to reports, Netanyahu offered the job to Lawrence Summers, a former president of Harvard, former Treasury secretary in the Clinton administration and key economic adviser to President Barack Obama. Summers is said to have declined the offer.

Two eminent Israeli economists, Jacob Frenkel and Leo Leiderman, accepted but then rejected the post after drawing negative media attention over alleged improper behavior in their past.

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