By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMANDan Ben-David 88(photo credit: )
Dan Ben-David was the next name on Kadima's list. But the former Chicagoan is giving it the cold shoulder.
A University of Chicago-educated economics professor, Ben-David is the next name on Kadima's Knesset list. He was expected to enter the legislature soon in place of either Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, defeated Kadima leadership candidate Shaul Mofaz or troubled former finance minister Avraham Hirchson.
Ben-David said he had been interested in entering the Knesset for a long time, but now that it was so close to the end of its term, he preferred to accept an offer to head the prestigious Taub Center for Social Research, a Jerusalem-based economic think tank, where he starts work on November 1.
"It was a big dilemma for me," Ben-David said. "I turned down many offers over the years because I wanted to remain available to enter the Knesset.
"On the one hand, I feel like the country is slipping through my fingers and the Knesset was a place where I could fix it. But on the other hand, I didn't want to go to the Knesset just for a few months just to get it on my CV. That wasn't my childhood dream."
Ben-David said he saw the Knesset as "civilian reserve duty." But he said he believed he would end up having more influence and be able to improve society more as head of the think tank, where he will have a team of specialists to assist him in his research.
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I decided I had to go for it," he said. "The price will be not influencing things from the inside, but then again, I wouldn't be there long enough to have influence even if that option did develop.
"After all, I'm an economist. I do cost-benefit analysis. I realized that at this point, the benefit to the country would not be nearly as much as the cost to me if I turned down the job."
Ben-David was mentioned as a soon-to-be-MK last month when Mofaz announced he was quitting politics. But he had already received the Taub offer by then and decided to pass the Knesset option to the next candidate on the Kadima list, well-known gynecologist Rachel Adato-Levy.
The next candidate after Adato-Levy is Karmiel mayoral candidate Rina Greenberg, who has left Kadima for Israel Beiteinu.
Despite his decision to turn down the Knesset, Ben-David said he still hoped more professionals would enter politics and use their skills in public service.
"I do think that people who can contribute should go to the Knesset, but here I am giving it up," Ben-David said. "Maybe one day, I will get another chance and I will become an MK, but not in the near future.
"Going to the Knesset is not your whole life. There are other things we can do, which we are really good at."
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