NEW IASPS KORET FELLOWSHIPS AWARDED

Some one hundred of Israel’s top economic postgraduates applied this year for the prestigious IASPS Koret Fellowship Program. The average academic grade point average of applicants this year was noticeably higher than in previous years, as was the quality of their writing samples, says IASPS Koret Fellowship Program Director Zev Golan.

Now, IASPS takes pleasure in announcing the awarding of the 2002-2003 IASPS Koret Fellowships. Fellows will participate in advanced economic policy seminars and will receive training in research techniques at IASPS-Jerusalem. The seminars and training are designed to prepare them to write world-class policy studies and to research economic policy reforms for members of Israel’s policy community. Some of the most important economic policy reforms in Israel to date have emanated from the IASPS Koret Fellowship Program (arguably, Israel’s only significant market reforms). Fellows will also be trained in writing and speaking skills, aimed at teaching them how to write and submit op-eds and articles to newspapers and speak before large audiences in both Hebrew and English. As past Fellows continue to assume positions of leadership in the Israeli political and business communities, the importance of enhancing such skills has become more and more important.

Previous holders of Fellowships will continue participating in the Program as Teaching Fellows or professional economists. Several former Fellows have by now completed their doctorates, others are high-level officials at important major high-tech companies. The impetus for their continued involvement, despite their busy schedules, comes from the former Fellows themselves, who wish to be involved in contributing to the development of today’s new Fellows.

The 2002-2003 Fellows:

Ayelet Zur, 25, holds two Bachelor’s degrees, one in economics and one in law, from Haifa University. She is currently completing her Master’s degrees in both subjects. An officer in the Israeli army, Zur serves in the military attorney’s office.

Zur: “To encourage economic growth, the government must cut taxes, encourage foreign and domestic investment and privatize state corporations.”

Karen Finklestein, 23, is now finishing her Bachelor’s in economics and business at Bar-Ilan University. She has worked in the logistical department of the Prime Minister’s Office and has focused on the preparation of and authority over educational budgets.

Finklestein: “Several government ministries can be closed, thus eliminating the waste of such large sums of money on ministers and bureaucrats.”

Julia Berman, 23, holds a Bachelor’s degree in economics from Haifa University. An immigrant from the former Soviet Union, she served in an IDF paratroop unit.

Berman: “The government is weighed down by burning security issues and does not devote enough time to economic matters.”  

Moshe Bar Siman Tov, 25, is finishing his Bachelor’s in economics and business at the Hebrew University. He is currently employed as an economic advisor in Israel’s Electricity Authority.

Bar Siman Tov: “The only apparent reason for the existence of the Ministry of Religious Affairs is to convince religious and Haredi parties to join the coalition government. In the past even the Chief Rabbis favored closing it.”

Erez Rephaeli, 25, is finishing his Bachelor’s degree in economics at the Hebrew University. He served as an officer in the army and is now a security officer at a hospital in charge of external agencies hired to provide security. He is also a research assistant in his university’s economics department.

Rephaeli: “The Histadrut’s fight for the welfare of Histadrut employees comes at the expense of the welfare of all Israeli citizens.”

Omer Ben-Zur, 25, holds a Bachelor’s degree in industrial management from Tel Aviv University. While serving in the army, he was awarded a citation of merit by President Weizman. Ben-Zur has two years of business experience at Motorola.

Ben-Zur: “As the budget deficit grows, and the interest rates rise, economic growth is suppressed. The growing deficit also reduces foreign-investor confidence in the Israeli economy.”