Shaul Amsterdamski

Shaul Amsterdamski (שאול אמסטרדמסקי; born on 8 August 1980, in Jerusalem) is an Israeli journalist. He is the head of the economic desk and a senior economic commentator in the news division of the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation. Previously, he served for 9 years as a senior economic correspondent for the newspaper Calcalist.

Biography
Amsterdamski grew up in Petah Tikva, his parents immigrated from the Soviet Union. He served as an officer in the Civil Administration during his military service.

In 2007 he completed a bachelor's degree in the Philosophy, Economics, and Political Science program at the Hebrew University. During and after his studies at the university, he worked in a junior position in the Capital Market, Insurance, and Savings Division at the Ministry of Finance.

In November 2007 he joined the team of journalists that founded the Calcalist newspaper. Initially, he served as the newspaper's Knesset correspondent, covering the state budget and the 2009 Arrangements Law. At the end of 2009, he was appointed head of the newspaper's news department, a position he held for about three years. During this period, he published, among other things, an interview with former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. In September 2012, he chose to leave the position and subsequently served as a senior reporter for the newspaper. The main areas of his journalistic work are pensions, health and education, budget, Haredim, and employment.

In 2013 he was part of the team that exposed the Trajtenberg Committee transcripts and led, together with the Public Knowledge Workshop, a project to make the budget accessible to the general public. He also published a comprehensive and in-depth ten-part series called "Amsterdamski in the Pension Desert," which critically reviewed the pension field in Israel and the factors influencing it. In 2016, he published a series of articles called "Sugar Diary," which dealt with excessive sugar consumption among the Israeli population and the reasons for it.

Amsterdamski runs a popular blog called "Think Tasty, Be Tasty," which deals with the economic aspects of what is happening in Israel, the "behind the scenes" of journalistic work, and his personal life. In July 2016, it was announced that he would be appointed head of the economic desk and senior economic commentator in the news division of the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation. With the establishment of the corporation, Amsterdamski was appointed to manage the economic desk.

The desk was called "Kan Economic" and operated in several channels: text articles, a weekly podcast called "Pocket Creatures," video clips on Facebook and YouTube, and investigative series. At the same time, Amsterdamski participated as a guest in various radio and television programs produced by the corporation.

In 2018, Amsterdamski took unpaid leave to study at Harvard University in the Nieman Fellowship for Journalists program. In March 2020, he returned to Israel earlier than expected due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Two months later, he began hosting "Pocket Games," a daily economic television program on "Kan 11". From January 2021 to November 2022, the program was also broadcast in a radio version on "Kan Bet" on Thursdays, together with Liel Kaiser.

In April 2022, he retired from hosting the program on Kan 11 but continued to serve as head of the economic desk in the corporation. In December 2022, he announced that he would cease to serve as head of the economic desk and would mainly focus on creating content for Kan Digital. Amsterdamski also hosts the program "Shaul's Column," which is broadcast in the news division on Kan 11.

In August 2022, his book "Good Money" was published by Keter Publishing House.

In January 2023, "The Mechanism," a series of in-depth interviews hosted by Amsterdamski, premiered on Kan 11.

Personal life
Amsterdamski is married and a father of two. He resides in Jerusalem. His brother is Lior Amsterdamski, a comedian and screenwriter.