Netanyahu named most influential person in Israel's economy

TheMarker on Wednesday named Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the person who weilds the most influence on Israel's economy.

The selection is in spite of the fact that for Netanyahu, there are more pressing things than the economy to be dealt with, such as the relationship with the U.S. and the controversy surrounding his choice of foreign minister. Netanyahu seems to have decided that presenting himself as a prime minister strong on the economy no longer suits him. At the moment, he prefers to identify himself with a broader range of national issues.

Netanyahu has lowered expectations on topics related to the economy since passing the biennial national budget for 2009 and 2010.

In coming weeks, when Netanyahu and his people begin to work, economists will discover that the prime minister has a new economic agenda which is fundamentally different from the one he presented as treasury minister, head of opposition, and as candidate for prime minister.

In the coming year, don?t expect to see Netanyahu the fighter for monopolies, for lowering taxes and breaking up unions; this is in the past for him. There is a new Netanyahu with new slogans. The change isn't necessarily bad. It's possible to find logic in his economic turnaround and his new direction and program.

The question for the coming year is if the change in Netanyahu will reflect the change in the economic situation and the challenges, threats and opportunities that come with it. The story could also be much simpler: Netanyahu has decided that he doesn't have the ability or desire to enter into confrontation and lead a revolution. He prefers to be the prime minister that everyone likes.

The rest of the top 10 list:

2. Bank of Israel President Stanley Fischer3. IDB CEO Nochi Dankner4. Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz5. National Labor Federation Chairman Ofer Eini6. Bank Leumi heads Galia Maor and Eitan Raf7. Defense Minister Ehud Barak and heads of the IDF General Staff8. Head of Finance Ministry budget department Udi Nissan9. Netanyahu's financial advisor Uri Yogev10. Head of Delek Group Yitzhak Tshuva