Yaakov Frenkel has been tapped by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to serve as the next governor of the Bank of Israel. For Frenkel it will be his second term as the head of the nation’s bank, having served in the post from 1991 to 2000. Finance Minister Yair Lapid is in sync with the decision and Frenkel is set to step into the post at the end of June, taking over for Stanley Fischer who is stepping down.

“Frenkel is known as a macro-economics expert. He received the Israel Prize for economics in 2002, and has served in several prestigious posts on the international scene. He was vice chairman of insurance giant AIG when it collapsed in 2008, but remained in the position. In 2009, he was appointed chairman of JP Morgan Chase International, the international arm of one of the three largest banks in the US” Globes reports.

Experts, both supporters and opponents of the decision explain Frenkel’s hashkafa mimics the prime minister’s and he will place his first priorities on Israel’s position in the international arena, not on internal social-economic issues. Globe’s adds that Mr. Netanyahu worked hard to persuade Frenkel to return, for he was not interested in reassuming the post.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)