Shlomo Maoz
Shlomo MaozIsrael news photo: Flash 90

Economist Prof. Shlomo Maoz, who is running for a spot on Likud's Knesset list, wants to put an end to what he says is the Ashkenazi control of the Supreme Court and the universities.

In an interview with Globes, he was asked if he would tackle the Supreme Court, and answered: "Yes, of course. This is one of the subjects that pain me. I will not let the situation continue. That they – whoever they may be, the elite that is no longer the elite – will do me favors."

Asked what elite he was referring to, Maoz answered: "The ruling elite, the Austro-Hungarian one, controls the Supreme Court. The universities. Check how many lecturers there are, and from what ethnic background. The results are amazing."

Maoz, a Sephardic Jew, was the chief economist for Excellence-Nesuah, one of Israel's largest investment houses, but was fired in January after he gave a speech denouncing "white" Ashkenazi elites.

Maoz had said at a conference at the Sapir College that well into the country's seventh decade, "The same white tribe rules." Bank Leumi, he added, "is for white people only. Only whites can achieve top-level positions.”