Professor Trajtenberg is currently a member of the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament. In August 2011 he was appointed Head of the Government Committee for Social and Economic Change. He has contributed widely to the formulation of economic and social policy in Israel, including the design of fiscal rules, policies towards the Arab minority and the ultraorthodox, innovation policy, and Higher Education; he also served as advisor to various ministers and to chief scientists at the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor. Professor Manuel Trajtenberg is currently a member of the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament. In the past elections he run as a member of the Labor Party and candidate for Minister of Finance, and was elected to the Knesset in March 2015. Prof. Trajtenberg served as Chairman of the Budgeting and Planning Committee of the Council for Higher Education in Israel from September 2009 through December 2014. From 2006 trough 2009 he was the (first) Head of the National Economic Council at the Prime Minister Office, and chief economic advisor to the Prime Minister.

Trajtenberg has contributed widely to the formulation of economic and social policy in Israel, including the design of fiscal rules, policies towards the Arab minority and the ultraorthodox, innovation policy, and Higher Education; he also served as advisor to various ministers and to chief scientists at the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor.