IASPS

Quarterly Report
Spring 2000

Comments of the President

The Director's Column

Media Focus on Fellows' Research

Koret Fellows Form a Corps of Teachers

The Internet/Telcom Corner

Institute Hires Executive Director 

Reality: Israeli Citizens Against Government Waste

Dignitaries Discuss Mideast at IASPS

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A Reality: Israeli Citizens Against Government Waste 

Ehud Menirav, a former IASPS Koret Fellow, who has been involved with the program for the past three years, has now officially launched the non-profit, grass-roots organization appropriately named "Israeli Citizens Against Government Waste." 

According to Menirav, the objective of the organization "is to become a driving force in Israel fighting against public sector waste and for the reduction of unnecessary government expenditure."

In addition, ICAGW will "work for real tax reform in the form of an across the board tax reduction as a means of increasing economic freedom and increasing the efficiency of government expenditure," Menirav explained. In Menirav's view, "the organization will also strive to increase the public's understanding and awareness of basic economic issues and how government expenditure affects overall economic productivity and growth." 

Menirav was very quick to pay tribute to IASPS and the experience he gained as a Koret Fellow: "There are many examples of how the Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies has worked towards advancing important reforms in the Israeli economy, which in many ways is still dominated by socialist ideology. The Fellows in the Knesset and the publication of Policy Studies are without a doubt the vanguard of reforms which ultimately contribute to Israeli's economic independence." 

Indeed, Menirav sees a real synergy between the work of IASPS and his new organization: "As I, and indeed other Koret Fellows, understood the IASPS mandate, we were not receiving world-class training in economic freedom to melt into the system here. The purpose was to lay the groundwork for a broader independent community of scholars dedicated to smaller government and greater economic freedom. This new organization is the result of that goal becoming a reality." 

According to Menirav, the precise strategic plan of the new organization is presently being developed. One of the many projects being planned is a prize for excellence to be awarded to students writing seminar papers or theses on subjects which are of interest to the organization. Students who receive prizes will rewrite their papers, with the assistance of the organization, in the form of newspaper articles, letters to members of Knesset, and so forth. 

"In this manner," Menirav explains, "the new organization will achieve both an educational goal and a broader policy objective." At the instructional or educational level, young students will be motivated to begin thinking about government waste and will be encouraged to deal with policy issues and find ways to reduce government expenditures. The new organzation also intends to initiate legal cases before the Supreme Court in an effort to create greater institutional pressures on the government to reduce waste.

Menirav explained to the Quarterly that the idea for establishing the new organization came to him in 1997 while he was participating in the Institute's Fellowship program in Congress: "I saw the wide variety of organizations operating in the US and the extent of their influence on economic policy and I immediately realized that it is imperative that an organization like Citizens Against Government Waste be established here in Israel." 

Menirav has now committed himself and his time to the establishment of Israeli Citizens Against Government Waste and has left his position as chief economist at a major public company. According to Menirav, the non-profit organization is presently raising funds to finance its operations. Menirav concludes: "I realized that if I didn't establish this vital organization now and devote the resources required for its success, it simply wouldn't come into being." 

IASPS wishes Mr. Menirav every success in this very worthwhile endeavor.