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Israeli PM retracts from his request to amend investments, fearing public backlash

27 August 2012 19:10 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu retracted on Monday from his request to modify his private investments, fearing public speculation over an upcoming war with Iran would circulate and affect global economy, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

On Aug. 15, a special committee at the State Comptroller’s office authorized Netanyahu’s request to make changes to his foreign and domestic investment portfolio.

Under Israeli rules, designated to prevent a conflict of interests between policy-making and personal financial gain, the prime minister, ministers and deputy ministers are required to transfer financial assets to a trustee, who manages them in a blind trust, within 60 day of taking office.

The committee was founded in 2006, as then-IDF chief of staff Dan Halutz was accused of insider trading and liquidating his investments portfolios just two hours before Hezbollah perpetrated the attacks which set off the 2006 Lebanon war.

His portfolio was estimated at NIS 120,000 (30,000 U.S. dollars) and would have suffered great losses along the rest of the Tel Aviv 25 Index, which dropped 8.3 percent in the week following the outbreak of the hostilities.

"It appears that, in light of the drastic and frequent macro- economic changes, there seems to be a clear need to allow the trustee to make changes with the faith of the government," the committee stated in its approval of Netanyahu’s request, according to the Globes financial daily.

The committee added that it would meet again on Oct. 10 to finalize its decision.

Netanyahu, however, backtracked on his request realizing that it would increase the speculation over a possible military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities, which has been widely discussed recently.

Such a move would surely send shockwaves throughout the global economy, sources at the Prime Minister’s Office told the Jerusalem Post.

Netanyahu was also afraid to suffer the same criticism as Halutz did back in 2006.

Opposition figures have denounced Netanyahu over this recent development.

"The prime minister’s request ... is a strange step that betrays even more than a small hint about his intentions," he said. "His actions prove that he is well aware of the massive risks to Israel’s security from a hasty, uncoordinated and unnecessary decision to attack Iran unilaterally."

Labor party leader Shelly Yechimovich directly connected between Netanyahu’s request to Halutz’s act.

"If (Netanyahu) has important information he should share it with the public," she said.

"We have already been witness to improprieties by Halutz, who sent IDF soldiers into combat, yet found time to sell his shares," she said. "The public is disgusted and rightly so."