(IsraelNN.com) Kadima party officials, with support from part of the Israeli media, have blamed Binyamin Netanyahu for reportedly large pension fund losses. As Finance Minister in the Sharon government, he originated an economic reform policy that is widely credited with catapulting the Israeli economy to one of the strongest and most stable in the world before the current global financial crisis.
The sudden global financial tidal wave resulting from the collapse of part of the financial structure in the United States caused major Tel Aviv Stock Exchange indices to drop by 50 percent the past several months, in tandem with virtually every other world market.
However, the reported losses of 20 percent do not take into account two factors: first, the loss comes after more than five years of far greater grains. Secondly, the reported losses are not true, according to Yadin Antebi, Finance Ministry commissioner of capital markets.
The entire public debate about the losses to long-term savings is based on a skewed image. First, people should learn the facts, urges one public official who knows them - Yadin Antebi, the commissioner of capital markets, insurance and savings at the Finance Ministry.
"The pension funds have lost less than 10%," he said at an economic summit sponsored by Bank Leumi and TheMarker, a business website which reported his comments.
Antebi added that people have been throwing around figures such as "tens of percent, confirming a "level of panic...and [the] degree the public debate relies on errors."
