Dr Alexander "Sasha" Tzinker (; born 2 January 1953) is an Israeli former 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 ...

for

Yisrael BaAliyah Yisrael BaAliyah (, ) was a political party in Israel between its formation in 1996 and its merger into Likud in 2003. It was formed to represent the interests of Russian immigrants by former refuseniks Natan Sharansky and Yuli-Yoel Edelstein. ...

and the Democratic Choice between 1999 and 2003.

Biography

Born in the

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, Tzinker gained an MA at the Polytechnic Institute in Armenia in 1975 and a PhD from the Moscow Scientific Center for Management in 1988. He worked as a systems analyst and

emigrated to Israel ''Aliyah'' (, ; ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel or the Palestine region, which is today chiefly represented by the State of Israel. Traditionally described ...

in 1990. For the 1999 elections he was placed sixth on the Yisrael BaAliyah list, and entered the Knesset as the party won six seats. On 20 July 1999, just over a month after the elections, Tzinker and Roman Bronfman left the party to establish a new Knesset faction; six days later it was renamed "Mahar" (a Hebrew acronym for Party for Society and Reforms), and in October adopted the name " Democratic Choice". Prior to the 2003 elections Tzinker left the Democratic Choice (which was to be allied to

Meretz Meretz (, ; ) was a left-wing political party in Israel. The party was formed in 1992 by the merger of Ratz, Mapam and Shinui, and was at its peak between 1992 and 1996 when it had 12 seats. It had no seats in the Knesset following its failure ...

) and established a new party, Citizen and State, which he headed.Citizen and State list
Israel Democracy Institute However, the party received only 1,566 votes (0.05%), well below the 1.5%

election threshold The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of votes that a candidate or political party requires before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can operate in various w ...

, and Tzinker lost his seat. In the run-up to the

2006 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2006. * Elections in 2006 * Electoral calendar 2006 * 2006 Acehnese regional election * 2006 American Samoan legislative election * 2006 Bahraini parliamentary election * 2006 Costa Rican presidential e ...

, Citizen and State was taken over by former

Shinui Shinui () was a Zionist, secular, and anti-clerical free market Liberalism worldwide, liberal party and political movement in Israel. The party twice became the third-largest in the Knesset, but both occasions were followed by a split and collaps ...

MKs, led by

Avraham Poraz Avraham Poraz (; born 9 August 1945) is an Israeli lawyer and former politician. Biography Poraz was born in Bucharest, Romania in 1945 and immigrated to Israel in 1950. He served in the Military Police Corps of the Israel Defense Forces an ...

, and renamed Hetz.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tzinker, Alexander 1953 births Living people 20th-century Ukrainian Jews Soviet emigrants to Israel 20th-century Israeli Jews Israeli people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Democratic Choice (Israel) politicians Yisrael BaAliyah politicians Hetz (political party) politicians Members of the 15th Knesset (1999–2003)