Citing personal reasons, would-be Bank of Israel gov declines job

Leo Leiderman, an Israeli economics professor tapped to become governor of the Bank of Israel, has withdrawn his candidacy.

Leiderman on Friday told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Yair Lapid that he does not want the job “for personal reasons,” Israel’s Channel 2 reported.

The Prime Minister’s Office announced his nomination days after Jacob Frenkel withdrew his candidacy over accusations that he shoplifted at a duty-free shop in Hong Kong.

Leiderman, a professor at Tel Aviv University and former head of its school of economics, is the chief economist for Bank Hapoalim and the former head of the Bank of Israel Research Department, where he worked under Frenkel.

Deputy Governor of the Bank of Israel Karnit Flug resigned Wednesday, following Leiderman’s appointment. She has served at the Bank of Israel for 25 years, and has been acting governor since the departure of Stanley Fischer at the end of June.