Moshe Sanbar

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (December 2006)

Moshe Sanbar (Hebrew: משה זנבר‎; born 1926) is an economist and Israeli public figure. Former governor of the Bank of Israel (1971 - 1976).

Sanbar was born on March 29, 1926 in Kecskemet, Hungary. His highschool studies ended upon the Nazi occupation of Hungary. In June 1944 he was drafted to the Labour Service and shortly later sent to the Dachau concentration camp in Germany. His parents, Solomon and Margaret Sandberg, were murdered in Auschwitz in 1944.

Upon his liberation by the Allied forces, in April 1945, Sanbar contracted Typhus. Following his recovery he returned to Hungary and studied economy in Budapest University.

In 1948 Sanbar made Aliyah to Israel and was drafted to the IDF. He was discharged after his injury in the Israeli War of Independence.

His studies at the Hebrew University of economics and sociology were completed in 1953.

For many years Sanbar was active in financial affairs within the academy, in public service and in the private sector. Between 1960- 1971 he held high level functions in the Israeli Ministry of Finance, concluding as a financial advisor to the Minister Pinhas Sapir and as the Director of Budgeting. During these years Sanbar was involved with financial legislation and headed several government committees. On the subject of budget planning he was invited to advise the UN. Following the Six Day War Sanbar conducted the economic policies concerning the Palestinians, as well as the development of unified Jerusalem.

In 1970 he was appointed Acting Minister of Trade and Industry, acting for Minister Sapir who remained active in the Minisry of Finance. Between 1971 and 1976 Sanbar served as Governor of the Bank of Israel. His actions during and after Yom Kippur war maintained a stabilized market.

After his retirement from public service Sanbar held many duties in the private sector, as head of industrial and financial institutions. Among his posts he was Chairman of Bank Leumi (1988 - 1995). In the years 1976 - 1981 he chaired the government's committee for the structure and work of the municipality in Israel.

Since 1995 Sanbar serves as financial consultant, alongside many voluntary work in cultural, educational and social organizations. He was also elected President of ICC Israel and served as a member of its world management.

Since 1987 he has been involved for the benefit of Holocaust survivors. In recent years he was involved in international efforts to this matter, made by the governments of Switzerland and the US. He was Chairman of the Executive Board, Treasurer and Deputy Chairman of the Claims Conference.