From Global to Local: The Impact of the Global Crisis on Israel

As part of the Israel Democracy Institute’s Eli Hurvitz Conference on Economy and Society, a panel was held )Dec. 14th) on the implications of the global crisis on Israel, including the labor market and the question of the budget, US–Europe–Israel relations in the Biden era, changes in times of crisis and routine, and preparedness for future challenges.

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Dan Senor, Elliott Management, co-author of Start-Up Nation: “Biden has made it clear that he intends to promote the Iran deal in a new way; it will not look exactly like the previous deal. The big question is whether he will take the Sunnis out of the process….There is an expectation that the new presidency will put more pressure on the Arab states, and this raises questions as to whether this will bring about closeness or distance from Israel.

Prof. Karnit Flug, vice-president for research and the William Davidson Senior Fellow for Economic Policy at the Israel Democracy Institute: “The transformation of the economy as a result of the epidemic has led to a demand for higher level technologies, and certainly this is one of the factors that will help the Israeli economy recover from the pandemic faster than other economies. There is high demand from the Israeli hi-tech sector for technologies in cyber, digital health, and more….

“There is a fear of continued damage to employment more than in other countries due to the fact that government policy did not support the retention of workers in the workplace….”

“It is not clear if there will be a budget for 2021. That is, there will be a budget, but it is not a budget designed to deal with the current state of the economy. There is no discourse about priorities and the economic crisis is postponing the process. The fact that we will start the new year without a budget that suits the current situation is very disturbing.”

The Eli Hurvitz Conference on Economy and Society – formerly the Caesarea Economic Policy Planning Forum – is widely recognized as Israel's most influential economic conference. For 27 years, the conference has served as a crossroads where public discourse and professional knowledge in economics and society meet, with the aim of improving decision-making processes in the administration and improving the quality of Israel's social and economic policy for the benefit of the entire public. The conference this year focuses on: macroeconomic policy in times of economic crisis; the labor market; the Israeli education system; governance in a time of crisis; strengthening the health system's readiness for crisis situations; and the relationship between local and central government. The conference is the apex of research and theoretical and practical research by working and thinking groups comprised of senior officials in the Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Labor, Ministry of Finance, the Prime Minister's Office, academics, IDI experts, civil society representatives, and other partners. Together, the teams led research and developed policy recommendations on issues closely related to the conference sessions, which will be presented during the conference, held online this year from December 14 to December 16.