Roman Bronfman (; born 22 April 1954) is a Ukrainian-born

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. He speaks Hebrew, English, Russian, and Ukrainian.

Biography

Bronfman was born in

Chernivtsi Chernivtsi (, ; , ;, , see also #Names, other names) is a city in southwestern Ukraine on the upper course of the Prut River. Formerly the capital of the historic region of Bukovina, which is now divided between Romania and Ukraine, Chernivt ...

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. ...

(now

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

),Ex-Soviet immigrants change Israel
''

Kyiv Post The ''Kyiv Post'' is Ukraine’s first and most prominent English-language newspaper. It was founded in 1995 in Kyiv by American businessman Jed Sunden. In 2018, the publication was acquired by prominent Ukrainian businessman Adnan Kivan, foun ...

'' (30 December 2012) 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 ...

to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family. He studied at Chernivtsi University from 1971 to 1976. He was a

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

, and published articles in major newspapers in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

and

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. Bronfman immigrated to Israel in 1980. He served in the

Israeli Air Force The Israeli Air Force (IAF; , commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial and space warfare branch of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Indep ...

, and participated in the

1982 Lebanon War The 1982 Lebanon War, also called the Second Israeli invasion of Lebanon, began on 6 June 1982, when Israel invaded southern Lebanon. The invasion followed a series of attacks and counter-attacks between the Palestine Liberation Organization ...

. Following his military service, he studied at the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

, and graduated with a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

in 1989. From 1986 to 1993, he was a

lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

at the Hebrew University and the

University of Haifa The University of Haifa (, ) is a public research university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963 as a branch of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation as an inde ...

. In the 1990s, he was a journalist for the Russian-language newspaper ''Aleph'' and for

Maariv ''Maariv'' or ''Maʿariv'' (, ), also known as ''Arvit'', or ''Arbit'' (, ), is a Jewish prayer service held in the evening or at night. It consists primarily of the evening '' Shema'' and ''Amidah''. The service will often begin with two ...

, and an announcer on Kol Israel's Russian-language service.

Political career

In 1993 he became the Head of the Haifa Municipality Absorption Authority, and has held that post since then. That year he also was elected to the Haifa City Council, and became the Deputy Chairman of the Zionist Forum. He held both of those posts until 1996 when he was first elected to Knesset. During his time in Knesset he was a member of Yisrael BaAliyah and then the Democratic Choice. He was a member of the House Committee, State Control Committee, Public Petitions Committee, Economic Affairs Committee, Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, Internal Affairs and Environment Committee, Committee on Drug Abuse, and the Committee for Immigration, Absorption, and Diaspora Affairs. During his time as a member of Knesset he was also a member of the Social-Environmental Lobby, Environmental Lobby, Lobby for the War Against Drugs in Israel, and the Lobby for the Galil and the Negev. He lost the 2006 Knesset election, and no longer serves as a member of the Knesset.

Views and opinions

Bronfman has said that the

Two State Solution The two-state solution is a proposed approach to resolving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, by creating two states on the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. It is often contrasted with the one-state solution, which is the esta ...

is the only humane solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The unacceptable alternatives are to have a mass deportation of Palestinians from Gaza and the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

, or to brutally rule over the Palestinians in these territories. In 2005 Bronfman submitted a bill to the Knesset that would amend the Dangerous Drugs Order so it would be legal to possess 50 grams, or about 1.8 ounces of

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae that is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from the continent of Asia. However, the number of species is disputed, with as many as three species be ...

, when before the legal amount to have in your possession was 15 grams, or 0.5 ounces. He said the total ban on cannabis had failed to stop cannabis use, and the way to stop its use was to go after drug dealers.

Published works

*''The Million that Changed the Middle East: Immigrants from the Former USSR,'' coauthored with Lily GaliliThe Million Russians that Changed Israel to its Core
''

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...

References

External links

*
Dissent is not disloyalty
article by Roman Bronfman in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''
Fanning the flames of hatred
By Roman Bronfman in ''

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Bronfman, Roman 1954 births Living people Jewish Israeli politicians Leaders of political parties in Israel Soviet emigrants to Israel Soviet Jews Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Social Sciences alumni Democratic Choice (Israel) politicians Yisrael BaAliyah politicians Meretz politicians Members of the 14th Knesset (1996–1999) Members of the 15th Knesset (1999–2003) Members of the 16th Knesset (2003–2006) Chernivtsi University alumni