Dr. Yeshayahu Foerder, chairman of the First Israel Bank and Trust Company of New York and chief executive officer of Bank Leumi, died here Tuesday at the age of 60. Dr. Foerder, who had been ill for a long time, was born in Charlottenburg, Germany, and relocated in Israel in 1933. He was a Knesset member from 1949 to 1957, representing the Progressive Party. He had been a member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, the Committee of Economic Cabinet Ministers and the Bank of Israel’s Advisory Council since 1949. He also served on the executive of the Independent Liberal Party. Dr. Foerder, considered one of Israel’s most influential economic leaders, was a prolific writer and lecturer on Israeli-American economic ties. Among his other activities, he was co-founder of the Rasco Building Company, the leading construction firm in Israel, a member of the Israeli delegation that negotiated a United States loan for Dead Sea operations, and chairman of General Mortgage of Israel, Bank Leumi Investment of Israel, the Union Bank of Israel and the Independent Development Bank of Israel. Dr. Foerder was also a board member of the Anglo-Israel Bank of London.
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