The Trajtenberg Committee (Hebrew: ועדת טרכטנברג) is a commission appointed by the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on August 8, 2011, in order to examine and propose solutions to Israel's socioeconomic problems. The committee was established following the 2011 Israeli housing protests. The committee is headed by professor Manuel Trajtenberg, who is the chairman of the Higher Education Planning and Budget Committee. Background The Commission On August 8, 2011, Prime Minister Netanyahu appointed a special committee headed by Professor Trajtenberg. The committee is to operate for a month, during which it will hold discussions with representatives of the protesters, with civil society organizations, and with various sectors of the public. Afterwards, in mid-September, the committee will make its recommendations to the government's socio-economic cabinet, headed by Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz and composed of 15 ministers. After that, the government will discuss the committee's conclusions. Members The committee includes 14 permanent members, 9 of whom are government or public officials and five of whom are from the academia and the private sector. Two ministers, Michael Eitan and Limor Livnat, were appointed as observers in the committee. Prof. Manuel Trajtenberg – chairman of the Higher Education Planning and Budget Committee. Eyal Gabai – director-general of the Prime Minister's Office. Prof. Eugene Kandel – the head of the National Economic Council of the Prime Minister's Office. Gal Hershkovitz – budget chief at the Finance Ministry. Dr. Avi Simhon – the finance minister's senior economic adviser. Michal Abadi-Boiangiu – the Finance Ministry's accountant general. Shahar Cohen – social entrepreneur and NOVA (Management and Academia for the Community) academic director Esther Dominisini – National Insurance Institute Director General Dr. Karnit Flug – Bank of Israel deputy governor (later appointed governor) Dr. Shlomi Frizet – Antitrust Authority chief economist Dr. Yoram Gabbay – Chairman of Capital Market Activists and Deputy Chairman of the Hebrew University Maurice Falk Institute for Economic Research in Israel. Prof. Pnina Klein – Israel Prize Laureate of the Bar-Ilan University School of Education. Dr. Tali Regev – an economist from the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel. Prof. Rafi Melnick – Vice President of the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya. Goals The committee was ordered to investigate: Proposals to change priorities in order to lighten the load of Israeli citizens. Implementation of a new taxation system. Providing access to social services. Increasing competition in the Israeli economy. Actual measures need to