Moshe Sanbar (; March 29, 1926 – October 1, 2012) was an economist and Israeli public figure. He served as Governor of the Bank of Israel (1971–76)Short biographical introduction in the Bank of Israel's official website and chairman of Bank Leumi (1988–95).
Sanbar was born in Hungary, surviving the Second World War as a prisoner at Dachau Concentration Camp. In the State of Israel, he began his professional work as an economic researcher and became gradually involved in the work of the Ministry of Finance as head of the research division (1958–60), deputy director of the State Income Directorate (1960–63), head of the Budget Directorate and economic advisor to the minister (1963–68). He served as a professional consultant to finance ministers Levi Eshkol and Pinhas Sapir, also acting for the latter in his post as Minister of Trade and Industry (1970–71). In the years 1977 to 1981, he was chairman of the Sanbar Commission concerning the local authorities in Israel and its relations with the central government.
Initially, he was an academic and researcher in economics and statistics. However, after leaving the civil service, he became more associated with his roles in the private sector as chairman of various financial and industrial institutions, and even more so in the public sector, engaging in activities related to education, culture, sports, and science. He was for many years involved with Habima Theatre, the College of Management and headed ICC in Israel. In the late 1980s he began his involvement in benefiting Holocaust survivors, founding the Israeli umbrella organization of holocaust survivors in Israel, bringing together more than 50 independent organizations. He was the world treasurer and the chairman of the executive in the Claims Conference, member of international commissions on property restitution and a champion for the needs of holocaust survivors.
Biography
Early life Sanbar was born as Gusztáv Sandberg on March 29, 1926, in Kecskemét, Hungary to Salomon Sandberg and Miriam (Margit) née Klausner, both of whom perished during the Holocaust in Hungary in 1944. His father had been in Hungary representing the family business of import and export of agricultural produce and poultry.אורי נחשון, האיש שהשתיק את לואי רוט, חדשות, 16 באפריל 1993. רחל מיכאלי, חתום על השטר, עמ' 90. מס' 124753, העולם הזה, גליון 1533, 18 בינואר 1967. The father had first been arrested by the Nazis and taken to a labor camp in 1941 but was released due to his old age, until his later arrest in 1944.יעקב בר און, שומר האוצר, NFC, 26.9.2010. His mother had died in 1944 in Auschwitz.
In his youth he was active in various sports: table tennis, fencing, wrestling and soccer. As a competitive wrestler he was champion of the high school league in Southern Hungary. Shortly after the Nazi occupation of Hungary and in response to the removal of Jewish players from the various sport teams, Sanbar founded a national soccer league for Jewish players.תמרורים, העולם הזה, 1 באפריל 1969. יחיאל אמיתי, יש לתת – ובגלוי, ספורט וטוטו, 8 במאי 1968. רחל מיכאלי, חתום על השטר, עמ' 376-375. Prior to the war, he was a right midfielder in the youth soccer league for Southern Hungary.שמעון וילנצ'יק, קרן של אור, חדשות ספורט, 22 באוגוסט 1969.
In early June 1944, Sanbar was recruited to the labor battalions of the Hungarian Army. In October 1944 his unit was marched to the Austrian border and taken to Dachau concentration camp in Germany. He was released by the Allied forces on May 2, 1945 near Seeshaupt, while on transport via Holocaust trains to an extermination camp.Moshe Sandberg, ‘’’My Longest Year: in the Hungarian Labour Service and in the Nazi camps’’’, Yad Vashem, 1968. Upon his liberation, Sanbar contracted typhus while in a field hospital.רחל מיכאלי, חתום על השטר, עמ' 95. His experiences during the war were later recorded in his book My Longest Year, one of the first memoirs printed in Israel by a survivor of the holocaust.אבנר שלו, סמל לאדם מגשים, מזכר, גליון 35, אוקטובר 2012, עמ' 27.
Prior to the war Sanbar was a member of a social club founded by Erik Molnár, where he was exposed to various economic theories.ראול טייטלבאום, הלקח הקיומי של השואה במסלול חייו, מזכר, גליון 35, אוקטובר 2012, עמ' 21-20. Following his return to Hungary and a recuperating period, Sanbar studied economics at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics.תלמה אדמון, משה זנבר, בשליטה עצמית, מעריב, 22 בדצמבר 1989. ו. אריאל, ממחנות הריכוז ל"מספר 2" בצמרת הכלכלית, מעריב, 13 ביולי 1971. In Budapest, he was a member of Hapoel sports association.רחל מיכאלי, חתום על השטר, עמ' 91.
During this time, Sanbar joined the HaOved HaTzioni movement and headed the emigrant training programs in Hungary. He was a member of the executive of the Zionist organization in Hungary.משה זנדברג, האנצקלופדיה לחלוצי הישוב ובוניו, כרך 17, עמ' 5147. Earlier and prior to WWII, at the age of seventeen, he won a writing competition in his hometown on a play focused on the Land of Israel.
In early 1948, Sanbar joined the Hagana and headed a group of 60 emigrants to the British Mandate of Palestine in Aliyah Bet. He arrived in Israel in May 1948, was drafted to the IDF and badly injured during the Battle of Latrun in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.משה זנבר נשאר בשטח, פצוע, גלובס, 17 באפריל 1991.
His MA studies at the Hebrew University of economics, statistics and sociology were completed in 1953.רשימת הבוגרים והמוסמכים – בחוג הראשי כלכלה, זמנים, 27 באפריל 1954.
Professional career Research and academia In 1951, Sanbar began work as a researcher and statistician at the Institute for Social Applied Research headed by Louis Guttman, becoming deputy director of the institute in 1956.אמצעי התשלום עלו ב-8.1 אחוז, חרות, 18 באוגוסט 1957. From 1957 to 1962 he was also a member of faculty in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
He was a pioneer researcher in the fields of consumer economics and the division of income.משה זנבר האיש ופועלו, בתוך: חמישים שנות כלכלת ישראל: מחווה למשה זנבר ליובל ה-75, המסלול האקדמי המכללה למינהל, 2002. His research on the latter was groundbreaking and valuable for being one of the first of its kind worldwide based on a wide public survey.כלכלן ישראלי זוכה להערכה, כלכלן, 2 ביולי 1959. Its comprehensive findings served as a basis for a series of articles printed in The Economic Quarterly.משה סיקרון, תרומתו של משה זנבר לחקר התפלגות ההכנסות בישראל, חמישים שנות כלכלת ישראל: מחווה למשה זנבר ליובל ה-75, המסלול האקדמי המכללה למינהל, 2002.
Ministry of Finance In 1958 Sanbar entered the civil service, working at the Ministry of Finance as founding director of the research division of the Income Directorate (1958–59)מ. זנדברג הוצע במקום סורוקר לאגף התקציבים, הבקר, 10 ביולי 1963. מוריה אבנימלך, זנבר בבל"ל: להחזיר עטרה ליושנה, ידיעות אחרונות, 8 בנובמבר 1988. and appointed as a professional deputy director of the directorate (1960–63). He was involved in ministry's work concerning taxation and headed many of the governmental committees on these matters, including the 1962 devaluation.המוח הכלכלי של מדינת ישראל, 18 ביולי 1963. רפאל אלדור, זנדברג – ממחקר כלכלי לתקציבים, שער, 5 ביוני 1964. Sanbar continued to research on division income and apply it to his professional work, among other things in his capacity from 1962 to 1966 as coordinator of the government's commission for national income division.
During these years Sanbar was involved with financial legislation and headed multiple government committees of financial concern. He was also a government representative in various boards of directors of government corporations such as Mekorot, also serving for several years chairman of the finance committee for El Al and in 1967 the founding chairman of the Israel Sports Betting Board in charge of the national football pool.
Following the appointment of Levi Eshkol as prime minister and Pinhas Sapir as minister of finance, Sanbar was appointed as the chief financial advisor to the Ministry and several months later, as Director of Budgeting.עובדי האוצר נפרדו מש. סורוקר, מעריב, 13 באפריל 1964. הממשלה אישרה מינויו של ח"כ ידלין לסגן שר החינוך, חרות, 1 ביוני 1964. His approach consisted of a four-year budget planning consistent with long-term development plans for each sector of the economy. On this issue, he was asked to advise the United Nations and tasked by them to write the manual book “Budget and Planning”. His main influence over the budgeting process was by including an annual estimate on the effects of the budget proposal on various income groups. Furthermore, he chaired the governmental Efficiency Commission aimed at improving the public service in both quality and production.צבי קסלר, חייבת להימצא דרך לסילוק עובד מדינה שאינו מתקדם, ידיעות אחרונות, 10 ביולי 1964. At the same time, Sanbar also led the governmental Automation Commission, formulating a plan on automation and computerization in the civil service.זנדברג: הממשלה מגבשת מדיניות בתחום האוטומציה, הארץ, 8 באפריל 1968. המחשבים האלקטרוניים – ענף העתיד של התעשיה הישראלית, מעריב, באפריל 1968. In his capacity as chief financial advisor to the Ministry of Finance, he was among the initiators of the 1966 recession policy.דניאל בלוך, איש צוות לבנק ישראל, דבר, 16 ביולי 1971.
Through his work in the Ministry of Finance Sanbar promoted the development of industry and science, replacing governmental loans with research grants and by establishing the first scientific complexes nearby university campuses.אריה שירום, המחקר השימושי בישראל: חזון מרקיע ומציאות אפורה, למרחב, 6 ביולי 1964. רחל ממיכאלי, חתום על השטר, עמ' 81-79. In addition, he encouraged the ability and means for exporting knowledge and services.זנדברג: נמכור לחו"ל פירות הידע, הארץ, 16 באפריל 1964. אריאל וינשטיין, תכנית ליצוא "משולב": יידע וציוד הנדסי, מעריב, 24 בינואר 1967.
Throughout the 1960s, Sanbar was responsible for the government's policy on wages, extending beyond the civil service and in concern with all sectors of the economy. As worker strikes became frequent from 1963 to 1965, Sanbar and Oded Messer (director general of the Ministry of Labor) were arbitrators in all labor disputes.רחל מיכאלי, חתום על השטר, עמ' 105-102.
At the request of Prime Minister Levi Eshkol, following the Six-Day War he oversaw the economic policies concerning the Palestinians in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip, as well as the development of unified Jerusalem: the development of the Western Wall, rehabilitation of the Jewish Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem, creation of a green belt surrounding the Walls of Jerusalem and creating feasible connecting routes to Zion Gate and to Mount Scopus.רחל מיכאלי, חתום על השטר, עמ' 143-140.
Sanbar left his post as director of budgeting in April 1968 and as chief financial advisor to the Ministry three months later.מ. זנדברג ישוחרר מתפקידו כממונה על התקציבים, מעריב, 8 בינואר 1968. זנדברג – יו"ר חברת "לישראל – הולדינג קומפאני", הצפה, 31 ביולי 1968. As result of the World Economic Conference held in Jerusalem, he complied with requests of Prime Minister Eshkol and foreign investors to serve as vice chairperson of the newsly founded Israel Corporation and in charge of its investment policy.אורי שרף, הוחלפה צמרת משרד האוצר, הארץ, 27 בספטמבר 1969. צבי עמית, החלטות מצדו השני של המתרס, שער, 21 במרץ 1969.
Chairman of the Industrial Development Bank