Avigdor Lieberman is not an obvious candidate to be the Finance Minister of Israel. But in an era of small parties and coalition politics, that has been his job for the past six months or so.

He is a former confidant of Netanyahu, who was one of the first of several to abandon the now former PM. Lieberman has been suspected of corruption. Senior parties members have been convicted. He is seen a pragmatic politician of the right, whose accent never hides his Russian origins.

Last month, for the first time in over 3 years, Israel’s Kenesset passed a budget. It had promised huge change. There are some reforms. But the most important issue is that the financial markets can identify with Israel’s attempt at proper governance. Yes, Jerusalem is trying to provide the platform for business leaders to surge ahead. One up to Lieberman.

The opposition leaders are furious. They have nicknamed the minister “liebermaS”. The word ‘mas’ in Hebrew means “taxation’. Cute, I suppose.

But let’s look at the state of the economy in Israel, late 2021, after nearly 2 years of Corona-economics.

1. The inflationary threat sweeping across most developed countries has yet to impact Israel. This is due to the strength of the shekel. The currency is in favour because despite political instability, Israel’s economy to-date has ridden out corona very well.
2. The level of unemployment in Israel fell significantly in November. At 5.7%, it is beginning to approach the record lows seen before corona days.
3. The fiscal debt continues to drop, down by over 50% since the peak of the corona crisis. Somebody seems to be managing the books very well, and thus there is less need to borrow money in the markets.

If there is a black line in the sky, it is something that I have mentioned several times in the past. In a country founded in 1948 on socialist principles, the gap in Israel between haves and have nots keeps widening. This is unacceptable, and possibly unsustainable for the long term. Hopefully, hopefully, Lieberman’s financial planners in Jerusalem will start to address this in 2022.