Yuval Steinitz | |
|---|---|
יובל שטייניץ | |
 | |
| Ministerial roles | |
| 2009–2013 | Minister of Finance |
| 2013–2015 | Minister of Intelligence |
| 2013–2015 | Minister of International Relations |
| 2013–2015 | Minister of Strategic Affairs |
| 2015–2021 | Minister of National Infrastructure, Energy & Water Resources |
| Faction represented in theKnesset | |
| 1999–2022 | Likud |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1958-04-10)10 April 1958 (age 66) Ramot HaShavim, Israel |
Yuval Steinitz (Hebrew:יובל שטייניץ; born 10 April 1958) is an Israelipolitician who served as a member of theKnesset for theLikud party. He also held several ministerial posts, includingMinister of Finance,Minister of Intelligence,Minister of Strategic Affairs andMinister of Energy. Steinitz holds aPhD in philosophy and has been a senior lecturer at theUniversity of Haifa. His book "Invitation to Philosophy", was published in 74 editions and printings and considered the best-selling philosophy book in the history of the State of Israel. Steinitz currently serves as chairman of the board ofRafael Advanced Defense Systems
Born and raised inMoshavRamot HaShavim, 30 km north ofTel Aviv, he is the eldest of four children. His father, Dan, is an engineer and his late mother, Mina, was a teacher of literature and philosophy. Steinitz served in the IDF as a soldier inGolani infantry Brigade (1977–1980). He sustained a leg injury during a battle with the Syrian army when he served as a reservist, during the1982 Lebanon War.[1]
After three years of compulsory military service, he was awarded BA and MA in philosophy at theHebrew University of Jerusalem with honors.[2] His doctoral thesisFrom a Rational Point of View was completed at the Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas atTel Aviv University.[3] The thesis examined the possibility of logical arguments for the existence of God, and the rule of logical reasoning in modern science. In 1993 Steinitz was awarded theAlon Scholarship, the most prestigious award for outstanding young doctors in Israel, which led to a teaching position at theUniversity of Haifa. Steinitz was chosen two years in a row as "The outstanding Lecturer" in philosophy and the philosophy of science. In 1996 he was appointed Senior Lecturer (the Israeli parallel of atenured assistant professor).
Steinitz has published several philosophy books. The first,Invitation to Philosophy (1987), became a number one best-selling philosophy book in Israeli history, and was printed in 60 editions. Another book,A Logical-Scientific Missile to God and Back became a best seller as well and was printed in 17 editions. He also published philosophical papers in academic journals includingThe Philosophical Quarterly,American Philosophical Quarterly,International Philosophical Quarterly,Cambridge Religious Studies, andThe Jerusalem Philosophical Quarterly Iyyun.
Steinitz's political involvement began in the early 1980s when he joined the 'Peace Now' movement as a young student. He was injured in his leg (the same leg again) during an anti-government rally outside the Prime Minister's Officer inJerusalem in 1983, when a right-wing extremist hurled a hand-grenade into the crowd, killing peace activistEmil Grunzweig.[4]Steinitz's reservations aboutOslo Accords signed with thePalestinians, together with his concerns regarding the massiveEgyptian military buildup despite the peace treaty with Israel, led him to shift to the right in 1995 and to publicly support theLikud Party.[5]
In1999 he was elected to the 15th Knesset on theLikud list. A year later he became a member of theForeign Affairs and Defense Committee and the chairman of its "Subcommittee on Defense Planning and Policy" and a member of the Constitution and Law Committee.
In 1999–2004, he served as president of Israel's Media Watch.[6]
After being reelected to the16th Knesset, he became chairman ofForeign Affairs and Defense Committee, chairman of the "Subcommittee on Intelligence and Secret Service" and co-chairman of the "Joint Committee on Defense with the US Congress", which he established and chaired together with SenatorJon Kyl.[7]Right at the beginning of his tenure, Steinitz declared that the committee will cease to be "The House of Lords" and will exercise "a very proactive and effectiveparliamentary oversight of Israel defense establishment". This new approach has led him to a series of clashes withPrime MinisterAriel Sharon, withMinister of DefenseShaul Mofaz and withIDF Chief of StaffMoshe Ya'alon.[8]
A few months later, he established the "Investigation Committee for the Israeli Intelligence following the Iraq War" and appointed himself as its chairman. This was followed later on by the establishment of similar committees in the United States and the United Kingdom. The committee report in 2004 sharply criticized theIsraeli Intelligence Community for misleading alerting reports, following its failure to detect the non-existence of chemical weapons and ballistic missiles in Iraq before the war. Additionally, the report also criticized the failure of the Israeli intelligence to detect theLibyan nuclear program on time. The committee's public report included a number of specific recommendations:[9]
Along with the above, Steinitz established a special Public Committee led by Prof.Amnon Rubinstein to examine the means to improveparliamentary oversight of the defense establishment.[10] As committee chairman often pointed to the massiveEgyptian military buildup with modern American weapons. In addition, Steinitz expressed a great Support for developing theIsraeli Navy into a significant strategic arm and published several articles on this issue at theMaarachot Military Journal.[11]
UnlikeNetanyahu, Steinitz did supportSharon's2005 plan to withdraw from Gaza. Yet, at the same time, he led aparliamentary battle against delivering thePhiladelphi Corridor toEgypt, claiming that the Egyptians deliberately ignorePalestinian arms smuggling through theSinai Peninsula.[12] He also argued that the Israel-EgyptPhiladelphi agreement might erode thedemilitarization of Sinai.[13]
In addition, he called for a rapid "Defensive Shield" Operation inGaza, prior to the Israeli withdrawal, in order to destroy theHamas andIslamic Jihad rockets industry.[14]
In 2018, the Israeli censorship allowed the publication of the secret documents that Steinitz sent to Prime Minister Sharon and the heads of the security services and intelligence organizations – in which he indicated in the summer of 2004 the possible existence of a secret nuclear project in Syria. It turned out that Steinitz and the sub-committee he chaired were the first in Israel and in the entire Western world, who have uncovered the military nuclear project in Syria, in absolute contrast to the intelligence agencies in Israel and the world. In the summer of 2004, Steinitz asked the Mossad and the Israeli Military Intelligence Directorate to present to the sub-committee of Intelligence and Secret Services a special plan to uncovering the likely secret nuclear project in Syria. While the military intelligence ignored the warnings, the Mossad did, in fact, change its action plan according to Steinitz's report, and after three years the Mossad found proof of the existence of a nuclear plant in the process of being built in the Syrian desert, which led to thedestruction of the plant by the Israeli Air Force in 2007.[15]
Steinitz was reelected to the17th Knesset in 2006 when theLikud lost its leading position toKadima. As an oppositionMK became again a member on theForeign Affairs and Defense Committee and as the chairman of the "Subcommittee on Defense Readiness". Steinitz wasNetanyahu's candidate for chairman of the "World Likud" in June 2006, but he lost to MKDanny Danon.
After being reelected to the 18th Knesset, and following theLikud 2009 victory, Steinitz was appointedMinister of Finance and a member of the innerSecurity Cabinet by Prime MinisterNetanyahu.[16]
He was the first Finance Minister of Israel to submit to the Knesset a two-year budget, instead of the until-then customary one-year budget. This move generated some controversy, with some accusing it of decreasing government transparency[17] and others praising it for its greater efficiency.[18] Since then, Israel continued with the biennial budget and became the first country in the west to institute such a policy change. In 2009, most experts in the Bank of Israel and the Ministry of Finance opposed Steinitz's move, but today the biennial budget had a wide approval among the officials in the Bank of Israel and the Ministry of Finance.
In the19th Knesset Steinitz served asMinister for Intelligence,Strategic Affairs and International Relations in thenew government.
Steinitz was reelected to20th Knesset and becameMinister of National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Resources in theThirty-fourth government of Israel.
In July 2022, Steinitz announced that he would not run for reelection to the Knesset, and announced his retirement from politics.[19]
Among the laws initiated by Steinitz during his tenure as MK:
With the establishment of the 32nd byPrime MinisterNetanyahu, Steinitz was appointedMinister of Finance. He took up this position in March 2009, during the beginning of theglobal economic crisis, and after theIsraeli economy already suffered from two quarters of negativeeconomic growth which led to almost 10%unemployment.[22]
After few weeks at office, Steinitz has launched an emergency plan entitled "Blima & Tnufa" (Break and Accelerate) aimed at returning thecountry to positiveeconomic growth, through dramatically encouraging investments in thehigh-tech industry, inR&D, and in construction andtransportation.[23] As part of the program, a "triple package deal" between the government, theHistadrut Unions Association and theIsrael Manufacturers Association was signed. The employees agreed to contribute 3.5 Billion NIS to help acceleratinggrowth.[24] In April 2009, Steinitz announced his unprecedented plan to enact the first biennial budget in Israel's history,[25] as part of his counter-crisis policy. In July 2009, the government approved the biennial budget (since then all budgets in Israel were biennial).
At the beginning of his term, Steinitz raised the VAT from 15.5% to 16.5% effectively from July 2009, but it was reduced to 16% in January 2010. In 2010 theIsraeli economy has already shown the fastest growing figures in thewestern world, with 5% growth and sharp reduction ofunemployment.[26]
In April 2009 Steinitz appointed Prof.Omer Moav as head of his advisory committee. When Moav resigned a year later, Steinitz appointed Prof.Avi Simchon to the post.[27] In November 2009 Steinitz appointedHaim Shani asdirector general, but he resigned a year and a half later following the2011 social protests.[28]
In 2009 Steinitz started an intensive diplomatic campaign to promote Israel's acceptance to theOECD.[29] In May 2010, after more than thirty years of failing attempts and despite strong opposition from theArab World, Israel has finally become a full member of theOECD.[30]
In 2010 Steinitz established the Sheshinski Committee to examine ways to increase the level of taxation onNatural Gas andOil fields.[31] Steinitz announced that he intended to raise the level of the over-whole "government-take" ongas and oil from 20% to around 50–60%. This led to a very aggressive campaign against him by the energy lobby, including pressures from the United StatesWhite House on behalf of the AmericanNoble Energy.[32] In 2011 Steinitz legislate the committee recommendations in theKnesset, raising the "government-take" on biggas fields to more than 60%.[33] In addition, Steinitz has doubled the royalties paid by "Israel Chemicals" from using theDead Seanatural resources and cancel its historic tax exemptions.[34]
Two other important committees were the "Concentration Committee" (established at winter 2011 together with PMNetanyahu), which led to unprecedented steps to reduceeconomic concentration in Israel, like enforcing separation between significant Financial and Real holdings;[35] And the "Investment Taxation Committee" (established in 2010 together with MinisterBen-Eliezer), which led to significant increase in Israel's investments incentives.[36]
In 2011, a doctors' strike broke out and paralyzed all Hospitals and Clinics around the country, in what became the longest strike in Israel history. The strike ended after five months with a compromise between theMinistry of Finance and theDoctors union, which included the improvement of the doctors employment conditions, especially in peripheralhospitals, as well as Steinitz's demand that hospital doctors will be subjected to time clocks. Nevertheless, hundreds ofinterns and 200 senior doctors continued the strike and the protest against the deal, until eventually the protest petered out.[37]
In the summer of 2011, and along with the doctors strike, a series of social protests against the cost of living in Israel took place. Demonstrations took place for a prolonged period of time, focusing on the high housing prices and the cost of daycare. The protesters were accompanied bydoctors,teachers,students, and dairy farmers, who called for a change in the government social outlook.[38] At the beginning Steinitz rejected the protesters' claims. But with the continuation of the protests, Steinitz began to show a more flexible attitude. One step was lowering taxes in order to reducepetrol price hike. Following the appointment of the "Trajtenberg Committee", Steinitz dealt with implementation of the committee's recommendations.[39]
In September 2011,S&P raisedIsraelcredit rating to A+.[40] This decision took place in light of the fact that Israel managed to continue to reduce its debt-to-GDP ratio, and despite the global economic crisis.
During his tenure, Steinitz made efforts to develop business connections withChina andIndia. In 2010–2011, Israeli exports to these countries increased by 35%.[41] During his three official visits inChina andIndia, Steinitz led negotiations for the signing a series of bilateral agreements designed to increase the volume of trade with these countries. Among other things, the agreement included specific steps to encourage young doctors fromChina andIndia to make theirPostdoctoral Researches inIsrael.[42][43][44]
In July 2012, Steinitz led the signing of aneconomic agreement betweenIsrael and thePalestinian Authority withPrime MinisterSalam Fayyad. As part of the deal, it was decided to increase joint enforcement against smuggling of goods, andIsraeli assistance to thePalestinian tax collection capabilities.[45]
In 2012 the stateannual deficit reached 39 Billion NIS, almost twice as much as was predicted, but theDebt-to-GDP ratio continued to decline. The averageeconomic growth during Steinitz's tenure asFinance Minister (2010-2012) was 4.5%, the highest economic growth in the entire developed world.
After the2013 elections Steinitz was appointedMinister for Intelligence,Strategic Affairs and International Relations, and became responsible to several topics:
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InMay 2015, Steinitz was appointedMinister of National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Resources, as well as Minister in charge of theIsrael Atomic Energy Commission. Two months later, after several years of delays and against very strong opposition from the Israeli left circles, Steinitz formulated the "Gas Framework", in order to enable the development of Israel's biggest gas discovery "Leviathan" (discovered in 2010), and to pave the way to futuregas and oil explorations. The "Gas Framework" was approved by theIsraeli government in August 2015, and by theKnesset Plenum in September 2015. Yet in March 2016Israel's Supreme court nullified the framework stability section, and forced Minister Steinitz to amend it and bring it back to government approval. The revised framework was approved in May 2016, and the development of "Leviathan" ultimately started.[49][50]
In April 2016 theUS Energy Secretary Dr.Ernest Moniz visitedIsrael for the first time. Together with Steinitz, they signed a bilateral agreement which upgrades the energy cooperation between theUnited States andIsrael.[51]
In July 2016 Steinitz announced that theMinistry of Energy will publish newoil and gas licenses, after four years in which the country economic waters were practically closed for newexplorations and searches.[52]
During 2017, the natural gas monopoly consisting of the Israeli company Delek and the American company Noble Energy had begun to fall apart, when the selling of the Karish-Tanin to the Greek company Energean occurred. This ultimately led to more competition for customers and the cheaper prices.
In April 2017 Steinitz hosted the ministers of energy from Italy, Greece, and Cyprus, as well as the European Commissioner for Energy, to kick off his plan to construct a sub-sea pipeline—the longest and deepest in the world—allowing Israel and Cyprus to export gas to Greece and Italy, and through them to west Europe.
In his capacity, Steinitz initiated a plan to eliminating the use of coal and polluting fuels in the State of Israel, and replacing them with natural gas and renewable energies. Within three years, the percentage of coal and mazut dropped from 65% of electricity production in 2015 to 25% in 2018. According to the plan, in 2027 Israel will no longer continue to use coal. Steinitz has also promoted a plan to shift all transportation in Israel from traditional fuels to electricity and natural gas, by the year 2030.
In June 2018, Steinitz signed an implementation agreement with his American counterpart,Rick Perry, establishing a joint energy research and development center. This cooperation agreement aims to accelerate development and rapid deployment of critical and innovative technologies for natural gas, cybersecurity, energy-water nexus, water storage, and other areas of energy that are needed to diversify energy supply and promote higher efficiency.
In April 2023, Stenitiz was appointed Chairman ofRafael Advanced Defense Systems, a government-owned arms corporation.[53]
He has campaigned for heightened awareness of the Iranian nuclear threat, lobbying at home and abroad to ensure that Iran does not become a nuclear power.[54]
In 2008, when Israel refused permission for PalestinianFulbright students to leaveGaza and study in the United States, Steinitz supported this action. He told theNew York Times: "We are fighting the regime in Gaza that does its utmost to kill our citizens and destroy our schools and our colleges. So I don’t think we should allow students from Gaza to go anywhere. Gaza is under siege, and rightly so, and it is up to the Gazans to change the regime or its behavior."[55] He disagreed with former Governor of theBank of Israel,Stanley Fischer, on various issues, and has a complicated relationship with Netanyahu, who bypassed him several times in his first year in office.[4]
In June 2013, when Austria planned to withdraw its UN troops (stationary since 1974) from theGolan Heights, Yuval Steinitz issued a statement expressing regret at the Austrian move, adding that the lesson for Israel was clear: "Even as part of peace agreements, Israel cannot place its security in the hands of international forces instead of relying on the presence of IDF soldiers."[citation needed]
In December 2015, after the assassination ofSamir Kuntar, he claimed in the newspaperHaaretz that theFinnish Intelligence services was perhaps behind this affair.[56][57] After contact from theHelsingin Sanomat newspaper,Haaretz claimed that it was a joke, putting to serious threat Israel's foreign policy.[58]
On 19 November 2017, Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said that Israel has had covert contacts with Saudi Arabia amid common concerns over Iran. This is the first public admission of cooperation between the two countries by a senior Israeli official.[59]
On 7 May 2018, Steinitz, in an interview to Israeli news siteYnet, said that Syrian PresidentBashar al-Assad, should be 'eliminated' by Israel for his relationship with Iran, he later clarified it was his personal opinion and not that of thegovernment.[60]
Steinitz is married toGila Canfy-Steinitz, a judge and the vice president of the Jerusalem District Court, with whom he has three children. They live inMevaseret Zion.[61]
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