Meir Cohen ( he, מֵאִיר כֹּהֵן, born 15 November 1955) is an Israeli politician. A former mayor of

Dimona Dimona ( he, דִּימוֹנָה, ar, ديمونا) is an Israeli city in the Negev desert, to the south-east of Beersheba and west of the Dead Sea above the Arava valley in the Southern District of Israel. In its population was . The Shi ...

,All the kingmaker’s men, and women
Times of Israel, 23 January 2013 Cohen is currently a member of the

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

for

Yesh Atid Yesh Atid ( he, יֵשׁ עָתִיד, , There Is a Future) is a liberal political party in Israel. Founded by Yair Lapid in 2012, it seeks to represent what it considers the centre of Israeli society: the secular middle class. It focuses pr ...

and Minister of Welfare and Social Services. He previously held the position from 2013–2014.

Biography

Born in Essaouira in Morocco, Cohen

immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

to Israel with his family at the age of seven. After initially settling in

Yeruham Yeruham ( he, יְרוֹחַם, ''Yeroham'') is a town ( local council) in the Southern District of Israel, in the Negev desert. It covers 38,584 dunams (~38.6 km²), and had a population of in . It is named after the Biblical Jeroham. Un ...

, they moved to

and were one of its founding families. He studied at the Lehman school in Dimona. In 1973, Cohen was drafted into the Israel Defense Forces, joined the Paratroopers Brigade, and fought in the

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by E ...

. He attended

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) ( he, אוניברסיטת בן-גוריון בנגב, ''Universitat Ben-Guriyon baNegev'') is a public research university in Beersheba, Israel. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has five campuses: the ...

where he gained a bachelor's degree in history. Cohen earned a master's degree in Jewish Studies after graduating from the

Schechter Institute Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies, ( he, מכון שכטר למדעי היהדות, ''Machon Schechter'') located in the Neve Granot neighborhood of Jerusalem, is an Israeli academic institution. History Founded in 1984 by the Jewish Theolo ...

in Jerusalem. He later worked as a headteacher in Dimona. He joined

Yisrael Beiteinu Yisrael Beiteinu ( he, יִשְׂרָאֵל בֵּיתֵנוּ, russian: Наш Дом Израиль, lit. ''Israel Our Home'') is a secularist, nationalist right-wing political party in Israel. The party's base was originally secular Russia ...

and ran for mayor of Dimona in 2003, and was elected with 42% of the vote. He was elected for a second term in 2008, and was expected to win a third term in 2013. During his tenure numerous factories opened, the city's first mall was built, unemployment dropped, he built cultural and youth centers, and led the efforts to lower the price of water. In October 2012 he joined Yesh Atid after being courted by the party for several months.Mayors who ran for Knesset didn’t win over residents
Haaretz, 27 January 2013 In addition to serving as mayor of Dimona, Cohen was also a member of the board of directors of the

Jewish Agency The Jewish Agency for Israel ( he, הסוכנות היהודית לארץ ישראל, translit=HaSochnut HaYehudit L'Eretz Yisra'el) formerly known as The Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. ...

. In the lead-up to the 2013 Knesset elections Cohen was placed fourth on the list of the new

party, entering the Knesset as the party won 19 seats. He was appointed Minister of Welfare and Social Services, a post he held until resigning on 2 December 2014. He was placed fourth on the party's list for the

2015 elections The following elections were scheduled to occur in the year 2015. Africa * 2015 Beninese parliamentary election 26 April 2015 * 2015 Burkinabé general election 29 November 2015 * 2015 Burundian legislative election 29 June 2015 * 2015 Burun ...

,Yesh Atid list
Central Elections Committee and was re-elected as the party won 11 seats.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Meir (politician) 1955 births Living people Ben-Gurion University of the Negev alumni Israeli educators Israeli people of Moroccan-Jewish descent Jewish Israeli politicians Mayors of places in Israel Government ministers of Israel Members of the 19th Knesset (2013–2015) Members of the 20th Knesset (2015–2019) Members of the 21st Knesset (2019) Members of the 22nd Knesset (2019–2020) Members of the 23rd Knesset (2020–2021) Members of the 24th Knesset (2021–2022) Members of the 25th Knesset (2022–) Moroccan emigrants to Israel 20th-century Moroccan Jews People from Essaouira Politicians from Dimona Yesh Atid politicians Yisrael Beiteinu politicians Deputy Speakers of the Knesset People from Yeruham