Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer on Wednesday said that peace was important to Israel’s long-run economic health.
“In the long-run this economy will have to make peace with its neighbors, when everyone is ready for that, which I hope will be sooner rather than later,” he said at the Hertzliya Conference.
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console.log("catid body is "+catID);if(catID==120){document.getElementsByClassName("divConnatix")[0].style.display ="none";var script = document.createElement('script'); script.src = 'https://player.anyclip.com/anyclip-widget/lre-widget/prod/v1/src/lre.js'; script.setAttribute('pubname','jpostcom'); script.setAttribute('widgetname','0011r00001lcD1i_12258'); document.getElementsByClassName('divAnyClip')[0].appendChild(script);}else if(catID!=69 && catID!=2){ document.getElementsByClassName("divConnatix")[0].style.display ="none"; var script = document.createElement('script'); script.src = 'https://static.vidazoo.com/basev/vwpt.js'; script.setAttribute('data-widget-id','60fd6becf6393400049e6535'); document.getElementsByClassName('divVidazoo')[0].appendChild(script); }“To say there’s no partner is incorrect; it takes two to tango,” he said later in Hebrew, prodding Israel's political leadership to start “tangoing.” Among the reasons peace is important: “I don’t think the defense budget can continue to grow at the rate it has in recent years. We’ll have to find a different way to deal with that problem.”
Peace was one item on a laundry list of long-term issues Israel would need to address. The country’s poverty problem, concentrated in the haredi and Arab sectors, is unsustainable, nor is the 4.2% growth rate among non-working populations, which will double their ranks in 17 years. Education, both high school and university-level, need attention, he said.