Amir Ohana (; born 15 March 1976) is an Israeli lawyer, former

Shin Bet The Israel Security Agency (ISA; , (GSS); ), better known by the Hebrew acronyms, acronyms Shabak (; ; ) or Shin Bet (from the abbreviation of , "Security Service"), is Israel's internal Security agency, security service. Its motto is "''Magen ...

official and politician who has served as the

Speaker of the Knesset The speaker of the Knesset (, ) is the presiding officer of the Knesset, the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Speaker also acts as President of Israel when the President is incapacitated. The current speaker is Amir Ohana, who ...

since 2022, and 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

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 ...

. He previously held the posts of

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

and Minister of Public Security. He was the first openly gay right-wing member of the Knesset and the first openly gay man from Likud to serve in the Knesset. He is also the first openly gay person to be appointed as a minister in the Israeli government and the first openly gay Speaker of the Knesset.

Early life

Ohana was born in

Beersheba Beersheba ( / ; ), officially Be'er-Sheva, is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the centre of the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in Israel, the eighth-most p ...

, the third son of Meir and Esther Ohana,

Maghrebi Jewish :''See Mizrahi Jews for more information about the Eastern Jews.'' Maghrebi Jews ( or , ''Maghrebim''), are a Jewish diaspora group with a long history in the Maghreb region of North Africa, which includes present-day Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, ...

immigrants from

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

. In his youth his family moved to Lehavim and then to

Rishon LeZion Rishon LeZion ( , "First to Zion") is a city in Israel, located along the central Israeli coastal plain south of Tel Aviv. It is part of the Gush Dan metropolitan area. Founded in 1882 by Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire who were ...

. He served 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 ...

as a road accident investigator in the

Military Police Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. Not to be confused with civilian police, who are legally part of the civilian populace. In wartime operations, the military police may supp ...

. He served as part of a force securing traffic arteries in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

and as a road accident investigator in southern Israel, completed an officer's course and was a commander of the Karni crossing. He also commanded a military police base. Ohana remained a reservist despite serving a total of six years of regular service in the IDF. After leaving regular military service, he served in

for another six years. Ohana studied law at the

College of Management Academic Studies The College of Management Academic Studies , a college located in the city of Rishon LeZion, Israel, is the largest college in Israel. The college has an additional campus in the city of Bnei Brak. Founded in 1978, COLMAN is the first non-subsid ...

and, after earning an LLB, interned with the Israeli Justice Ministry in the State Prosecutor's Office. He then worked as a lawyer in criminal law for a decade.

Political career

The chairman of the Likud gay caucus Likud Pride, Ohana gained 32nd slot on the Likud list for the 2015 Knesset elections in the party primaries, a place reserved for a member from Tel Aviv District. Although he failed to gain a seat when the party won 30 seats, he moved to 31st spot after minister and MK Danny Danon resigned from the Knesset to assume position of Israel's envoy to the UN. Ohana eventually entered the Knesset on 27 December 2015 as a replacement for

Silvan Shalom Zion Silvan Shalom (; born 4 August 1958) is an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Likud between 1992 and 2015. He held several prominent ministerial positions, including Deputy leaders of Israel#Vice Prime Minister, Vi ...

after he resigned amidst a sexual harassment scandal. During his first term in the Knesset he served as a member of the Finance Committee and the

Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee The Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee () is a permanent Knesset committee which oversees key Foreign and Defense issues of the State of Israel, including the drafting of legislation, supervision over related government ministries and the ...

, as well chairing the Lobby for Shaping the Gun-Carrying Policy in Israel and joining the Lobby for Medical Cannabis. He also became co-chair the Israel–Japan Parliamentary Friendship Group. After being re-elected in the April 2019 elections he was appointed

in June, becoming the first openly LGBT individual to serve in the government. His appointment came after controversial comments from Bezalel Smotrich, another contender for the office, saying that he would like to establish a

halachic state The term "halachic state" ( ) refers to a sovereign state that endorses Judaism in an official capacity and governs by Jewish religious law. It has been a subject of discussion among Orthodox Jews, particularly with regard to modern Israel, which, ...

governed by Jewish religious law. Ohana was considered a Netanyahu loyalist and supported exempting the prime minister from prosecution in the Netanyahu corruption investigations. He was re-elected in September 2019 and March 2020. In May 2020 he was appointed Minister of Public Security in the new government. In that role, he deprioritized Palestinian prisoners in Israel's COVID-19 vaccination priority list. In July 2020 he resigned from the Knesset under the Norwegian Law and was replaced by Amit Halevi. For the 2021 elections Ohana was placed eighteenth on Likud's

list A list is a Set (mathematics), set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of t ...

, and returned to the Knesset as Likud won 30 seats. He left the cabinet after a new government was formed, with Likud going into opposition. On 22 November 2022, it was reported that Prime Minister-designate

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...

was considering appointing Ohana as Foreign Minister of Israel in Netanyahu's incoming government. Ohana was ultimately elected

on 29 December, becoming the first openly LGBT Speaker in Israeli history. After his election, he became the target of

homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...

verbal attacks from some rabbis and Haredi MKs.

Views and opinions

Ohana is a supporter of loosening the policy on carrying firearms in Israel in order to allow more armed people on streets for prevention and fast reaction to terror attacks. After entering the Knesset, Ohana inaugurated the caucus to lobby and promote this cause. When opposition members of Knesset in February 2016 proposed several bills intended to improve the gay community's status such as recognizing bereaved widowers, banning

conversion therapy Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, romantic orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. Methods that have ...

, recognizing

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

contracts and to train health professionals to deal with gender and sexual orientation issues, Ohana left the session without voting; he said he could not vote against these bills, but he did not want to violate the party line. In 2018, he authored and voted for an amendment to Israel's

surrogacy Surrogacy is an arrangement whereby a woman gets pregnant and gives birth on behalf of another person or couple who will become the child's legal parents after birth. People pursue surrogacy for a variety of reasons such as infertility, danger ...

law to extend rights to same-sex couples and men. In the same year he voted for a bill prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation. In 2020, he defied the Likud party line by voting for legislation to ban gay conversion therapy. In 2023, he publicly supported Yair Cherki, an Orthodox religious affairs correspondent, who came out as gay.Reporter Yair Cherki wants fellow haredim to understand that he’s gay
''The Jerusalem Post''. 16 February 2023 Ohana has given media interviews in which he described Muslims as likely to have "cultural murderousness". He is a board member of Tadmor – Eretz Yisrael loyalists group within Likud.

Personal life

Ohana and his husband Alon Hadad have a son and a daughter, both born through a surrogate mother in

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. They live in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

. He and his partner reportedly attend Tel Aviv Pride.Tel Aviv Pride Parade draws 250,000 participants
''The Jewish Telegraphic Agency''. 14 June 2019

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ohana, Amir 1976 births Living people 20th-century Israeli military personnel 21st-century Israeli lawyers College of Management Academic Studies alumni Israeli military officers Israeli people of Moroccan-Jewish descent Gay Jews Jewish human rights activists Jewish Israeli politicians Jewish military personnel LGBTQ conservatism LGBTQ members of the Knesset Israeli gay politicians Israeli LGBTQ rights activists Likud politicians 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–) Ministers of justice of Israel Ministers of public security of Israel People from Rishon LeZion People of the Shin Bet Politicians from Beersheba 21st-century Israeli LGBTQ people Lawyers from Beersheba