Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer. Photo: World Economic Forum.

JNS.org – U.S. President Barack Obama appointed former Bank of Israel head Stanley Fischer as the vice chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Fischer, 70, will serve as second-in-command at America’s central bank, behind recently appointed chairwoman Janet Yellen.

As governor of the Bank of Israel from 2005-2013, Fischer was widely credited with helping to successfully steer Israel through the global recession. Fischer submitted his resignation to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last June, and was eventually replaced by Karnit Flug.

“Stanley Fischer brings decades of leadership and expertise from various roles, including serving at the International Monetary Fund and the Bank of Israel,” Obama said in a statement. “He is widely acknowledged as one of the world’s leading and most experienced economic policy minds.”