An American citizen and former Citigroup Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer was chosen to fill in the vacancy of the governor of the Bank of Israel. The decision was made by Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and finance minister Benjamin Netanyahu and needs to win approval from the committee overseeing the appointment of top officials.

"The prime minister and finance minister proposed to him several weeks ago to move to Israel, receive Israeli citizenship and be appointed Bank of Israel governor," wrote the prime minister’s office in a statement.
"This morning, Fischer notified us that he agreed," the statement said.

Mr. Fischer, former deputy head of the International Monetary Fund, speaks Hebrew and was involved in projects connected with Israel’s economic stability plan. He may be required to give up his US citizenship to become the Bank of Israel’s governor. Since Mr. Fischer took up the vice-president’s position at Citigroup, he had been widely expected to return to the public sector.

The statement issued by Mr Sharon’s office said: "The fact that a man like him is ready to finish his affairs at Citigroup, immigrate to Israel and become the central bank governor here is a golden opportunity for the Israeli economy.

"Fischer is a well known and well connected economist throughout the world and the state of Israel can be blessed by his talents, especially in the era of globalisation in economic markets."