Avraham "Abir" Kara (; born 27 October 1983)
Mako, 5 April 2021 is an Israeli businessman and politician who served as a member of the

Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

from 2021 to 2022. Initially representing

Yamina Yamina or Yemina (; ) was an Israeli political alliance of right-wing parties that originally included the New Right and the Union of Right-Wing Parties (a union of The Jewish Home and Tkuma). The final incarnation of the alliance included ...

, he broke away to form the Economic Freedom Party in September 2022. His new party failed to win a seat in the November 2022 elections.

Business career

Kara used his

bar mitzvah A ''bar mitzvah'' () or ''bat mitzvah'' () is a coming of age ritual in Judaism. According to Halakha, Jewish law, before children reach a certain age, the parents are responsible for their child's actions. Once Jewish children reach that age ...

money to open a flower stall, later expanding the business to several branches. After completing his military service in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

he opened a horse ranch, and later ran franchises of a waffle bar and a pizza restaurant.Israel Elections: Yamina candidate Abir Kara is ready to step up
The Jerusalem Post, 18 February 2021

Political activism

In 2019 Kara and another restaurant owner established 'I am Shulman' group to protest what they felt was government discrimination against self-employed workers. In less than a month its Facebook group had grown to 120,000 members. After declining to join

Likud Likud (, ), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement (), is a major Right-wing politics, right-wing, political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon in an alliance with several right-wing par ...

, claiming that groups including the

Histadrut Histadrut, fully the New General Workers' Federation () and until 1994 the General Federation of Labour in the Land of Israel (, ''HaHistadrut HaKlalit shel HaOvdim B'Eretz Yisrael''), is Israel's national trade union center and represents the m ...

union held too much power over the party, prior to the 2021 elections he joined

and was placed seventh on its list. He was elected to the Knesset as the party won seven seats and was appointed Deputy

Minister in the Prime Minister's Office A Minister in the Prime Minister's Office (, ''Sar BeMisrad Rosh HaMemshala'') is a minister and member of the Cabinet of Israel appointed by the Prime Minister of Israel to handle various issues on behalf of the Prime Minister. Current and form ...

. After Yamina joined the Zionist Spirit alliance, Kara announced that he would leave the party on 26 August 2022. Kara launched a new party on 4 September 2022 called the Economic Freedom Party, a

libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

party that focuses on expanding personal and economic freedom. The party received just 0.33% of the vote in the

2022 elections The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2022. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. * 2022 United Nations Security Council election * 2022 national electoral calendar * 2022 local e ...

, resulting in Kara losing his seat.

Controversy

In 2006 Kara was sentenced to 240 hours of community service for swearing at a police officer when he was caught putting up illegal election signs. He also admitted to uprooting olive trees owned by Palestinians.Activist Who Joined Bennett's Party Had Admitted to Uprooting Palestinian Olive Trees
Haaretz, 20 January 2021

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kara, Abir 1983 births Living people Deputy ministers of Israel Israeli businesspeople Jewish Israeli politicians Members of the 24th Knesset (2021–2022) Yamina politicians