Cohen-Orgad, Yigal

(1937- )

   Born in Tel Aviv, Yigal Cohen-Orgad is an economist who was trained at Hebrew University of Jerusalem and served as a member of the Knesset from the Likud. He served as finance minister from the fall of 1983 until the Government of National Unity came to power in the fall of 1984. As finance minister, he introduced austerity measures and sought to strengthen Israel's balance of payments through export-led growth and a cut in imports. In order to promote this growth, public and private consumption had to be restricted, and he sought to promote those sectors focusing on production and export. He initiated a variety of budgetary cuts, including the slashing of subsidies, in order to reduce government expenditures. He also initiated new revenue-raising measures, including education fees, taxes on early pensions, higher income tax in the higher brackets, and a cut in fringe benefits for civil servants and public-sector workers. A hard-liner on foreign policy, he opposed the Camp David Accords and the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty and promoted continued Jewish settlement in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.