Professor Yaakov Frenkel, the incoming Governor of the Bank of Israel has announced that he is withdrawing from the appointment. Frenkel, regarded as a prominent economist and a former head of the Bank of Israel was tapped by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to guide the economy during these difficult times. He has however decided to forgo the appointment in light of the negative media coverage surrounding his appointment.

Frenkel is referring to an incident in Hong Kong when he was wrongly accused of leaving a duty free shop without paying for a suitcase. He explained the Turkel Committee probed that incident and learned, as did Hong Kong police, that it was an unfortunate misunderstanding and nothing more, adding it is somewhat bizarre to think that he has to steal an item from a duty free shop.

Nevertheless, realizing the Israeli media is not going to cut him any slack, he has decided not to accept the appointment to replace outgoing Governor Dr. Stanley Fischer.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)