Prof. Israel Oman, Nobel laureate in economics and game theory expert, states that the State of Israel realized the potential of the epidemic in time, but calls for the establishment of the "Corona Authority" • Just before the age of 90, he also recalls the first visit to the Western Wall, expressing concern about the increasing anti-Semitism

• "Thank you for being part of the magnificent enterprise called the State of Israel." Prof. Israel Oman

  Photo: 

  Oren Ben Hakun

"There had to be a government body in charge of the Corona affairs, maybe the Corona authority. Each of the bodies involved in the crisis had to bring its own reasons, it was said to close the economy or not, and that body had to decide." So says Israel Oman, Nobel laureate in economics and professor of mathematics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Despite the royal decoration, an artist, miraculously, thinks he is not so good at math, and that he is better at math. An artist, soon to turn 90, demonstrates what he means by his other hobby: skiing. Until the age of 85, he used to go on a regular ski vacation, the last of which was in the French Alps.

"Skiing has four levels of difficulty," he explains. "Green is the easiest, then blue for intermediate skiers, red for advanced and black for professionals. The last route I did was black. It was in the French Alps, and when I finished skating, I told the kids - ' "You have to retire at peak."

Oman says that in math, unlike in skiing, "I'm in the red track. There are much deeper people in math than me. There, I've never been in the black track." His success, therefore, he does not necessarily attribute to exceptional talent, but rather to his mother: "According to Rashi, Leah said about her son Reuben - Rao-ben, that is, look what this son is, look how good he is. And the boy was just born now - and how did she already know the future? But she trusted her son to succeed. You see, this is Mom. And my mom always believed in me and my brother, and together with my father, they did everything we could to succeed. "

"Finding the Golden Path"

Oman, who won the prestigious award for his research and work in game theory, says that "a bit like the industry, until 15 years ago I was engaged in the production of game theory studies, and now I sell them."

I ask him to sell me an idea or two, and ask about his research in the Corona mirror. His work has resulted in the use of methods to analyze ongoing conflicts of interest. The Corona crisis, I tell him, is a classic situation for this: the Ministry of Health is pushing for caution while the Treasury wants to bring the economy back to action. 

"The Treasury and the Ministry of Health," he says, "are doing their job faithfully. They aim for different purposes, and the government, or the same body I mentioned at the beginning, should find the golden path between them," he explains.

About a decade ago, when swine flu broke out, the Ministry of Health asked you to come and contribute your knowledge on the subject.

"Netanyahu was then prime minister and ordered to buy vaccines at a cost of NIS 450 million, then it was not needed. But there was a lot of criticism as to why spending public money on what is not needed. According to game theory, there are two factors to consider - One is the probability that the risk will materialize, but the other is what the possible damage will happen if the risk is actually realized. 

"So if you have a relatively high probability, say 5% that the risk is realized, but the damage from the risk is not so great, you may not have to risk and spend the money. But if there is a much smaller probability that the risk will be met, half or one-tenth of the percentage, but the possible damage Huge - then the magnitude of the potential damage and possibly the purchase of the vaccines should be considered. If compared to the situation today, isolation and measures in the economy were necessary, and thanks to this we now have the King's way. "

Two cypresses on the Temple Mount

Aumann was born in Frankfurt, Germany, and his family emigrated to the US in 1938, about three months before Kristallnacht. He completed a bachelor's degree in mathematics from City College of New York and a master's degree and doctorate at MIT. After completing a postdoctoral at Princeton University.

Israel rose In 1956, and established our abode in Jerusalem: "We are in much better shape than we were when I arrived in Israel," he says on the occasion of Independence Day that took place this week. I remember that in May 1967, I hosted an email member, during a period of Apollo missions to space around which there was much hope of arriving at the moon, including talk about space tourism.

"I took him to where you can see the Temple Mount, and I said to him, 'Do you see these two cypress trees on the Temple Mount? Below them is the Western Wall, 700m from us. And there's a better chance we'll be on the moon before we stand there.' This call was at the Western Wall. On the other hand, I have not yet arrived. We have made a lot of progress since then, and blessedness we continue to advance. "

When I ask the artist what worries him about what is happening in the country today, he pauses for a minute, thinks and then gently laughs: "I laugh because I'm optimistic. And if you insist, the alarming rise in anti-Semitism worldwide, which reminds me of my childhood in Germany, no less. When there are people like Jeremy Corbyn in the UK, or national anti-Semitism like Bernie Sanders, it is worrying. When I was young and studying in the US, there was also anti-Semitism, but not as venomous and public as there is today. "

An artist recalls that many Princeton student clubs did not accept Jews in principle, and recalled the case he left behind. "In April 1961, I watched with my family at a Princeton graduation parade. Then one of the graduates came up with a big sign that reads" Aye Lake Ike. "Ike was the affectionate name of President Dwight Eisenhower, and it was his slogan of choice. IKE, and on the sign was EICH, an abbreviation of Eichmann. This event happened just during the Eichmann trial. "

An artist, who, during his routine, continues to visit the Center for Rationality Research at the Hebrew University, not to mention the political situation in Israel. When I ask him whether voting for the second and third time by Israeli citizens was a rational act, especially in light of the fact that nothing has changed in the political system, he decisively replies: "You have to vote. And if your direction is my direction then you better vote. But if your direction is not. My direction, come on, so keep voting. "

He celebrates Independence Day like all the people of Israel, in his home, and with much optimism that characterizes him, which he also throws to the country's wishes: "In prayer 18, we have the blessing of the confession," Moodi Gene Lacho ... "and I say it every day with great intent. Blessed is for a very good life overall, and for having been a part of building the state, and for being part of the Jewish people throughout its generations, and I thank the Blessed One for crediting me for being a generation who, after millennia, returns to Jerusalem his city and participates in this great and magnificent enterprise called the State of Israel. I hope you will only continue to succeed. "