A poll released on Thursday morning 2 Shevat addresses which candidate is best suited to serve as Minister of Finance. In first place is Prof. Emanuel Trajtenberg and in last place is Yair Lapid.
In truth, the results do not come as a big surprise as the professor heads the government appointed committee to lower the cost of living and he has a doctorate in economics from Harvard University. He is running under the Labor/The Movement ticket and if tapped to serve as minister of finance he will. He is however uninterested in serving as a Member of Knesset if not given the cabinet appointment.
According to the Galei Tzahal (Army Radio) poll, 93% of the public feels that Yair Lapid is not qualified for the post.
23% of respondents feel Trajtenberg is the man for the job, beating out Moshe Kahlon who only has 19% support. In third place with each earning 10% are Likud ministers Gilad Erdan, Yisrael Katz, Silvan Shalom and Dr. Yuval Steinitz, with the latter being a former finance minister. Fourth place goes to Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali Bennett with 8% and in last place with 7%, Yair Lapid.
32% of respondents did not select any of the above.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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One Response
Israel has a parliamentary system. Ministries are handed out on a political basis. “Qualifications” are irrelevant and perhaps damaging since someone qualified to run a Finance Ministry would lack the political qualifications to do so effectively. In most parliamentary systems there is a senior civil servant who is qualified and makes sure the country survives it elected leaders.
The US system does allow for qualified people to fill cabinet positions, which often happens. Usually the Treasury Secretary is an experience banker or businessman. But we have a presidential, not a parliamentary system.