The Obama administration is close to announcing that former Israel Bank Governor Stanley Fischer will take over the number two position at the Federal Reserve Bank under recently confirmed director Janet Yellen.
Fischer was hoping to be named head of the Fed, but at 70, his age was a barrier.
Fischer is widely respected in financial circles, and he has been credited, perhaps too much, with having steered Israel’s economy to become one of the world’s strongest during the global crisis after the 2008 financial fallout in the United States.
Fischer also is seen as being responsible for keeping down the value of the shekel against the dollar so that exports would not suffer.
He left the United States to take over as Governor of the Bank of Israel in 2005, agreeing to make aliyah because the job required his becoming an Israeli citizen. However, his Zionism lasted only as long as he wanted to stay on the job. He quit in the middle of his second term earlier his year and moved back to the United States.
Since quitting, he has been more vocal in his opinions that Israel must concede to most Palestinian Authority demands.
