After controversy, Yaron Felus chosen as next Central Bureau of Statistics chief

Prof. Yaron Felus is appointed the new head and chief statistician of Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics, the Prime Minister’s Office announces.

Felus, 55, was selected unanimously among 13 candidates by a search committee set up by the Prime Minister’s Office. The permanent position of chief statistician has been empty for over a year as the government has sought to update the requirements of the job.

The appointment comes after reports in March that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had frozen all personnel hiring at the CBS after an attempt to place a confidant at the head of the organization failed. Opposition leader Yair Lapid accused Netanyahu of trying to undermine the independence of the key government bureau because it produced facts that were uncomfortable for the government.

Felus, who holds BSc in Computer Engineering from Ben Gurion University and MSc in Science, has in recent years served as the CEO of tech incubator Visint Labs. He also has a PhD in geo-information and worked as a researcher and as an adviser with the US National Intelligence Agency and NASA.

The CBS is an autonomous and independent body within the Prime Minister’s Office. Its responsibilities include determining the country’s consumer price index, unemployment figures and growth rates — metrics, published quarterly, essential to measuring the success or failure of public policy.