Uzi Even (; born 18 October 1940) is an Israeli

professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

physical chemistry Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistical mech ...

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...

and a former

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 ...

well known for being the first openly gay member of the Knesset (the Israeli Parliament).

Biography

Uzi Even was born in

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

during the British Mandate era. He earned a BSc and MSc in physics at the Technion, and a PhD at

. His specializations are

spectroscopy Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets electromagnetic spectra. In narrower contexts, spectroscopy is the precise study of color as generalized from visible light to all bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. Spectro ...

of super cold

molecule A molecule is a group of two or more atoms that are held together by Force, attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions that satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemi ...

s, molecular clusters and cluster impact chemistry, and the quantum properties of helium clusters. He then worked as a scientist at the

Negev Nuclear Research Center The Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center (, formerly the ''Negev Nuclear Research Center'', sometimes unofficially referred to as the ''Dimona reactor'') is an Israeli nuclear installation located in the Negev desert, about thirteen k ...

near

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

. He was officially a soldier 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 ...

during his work as a nuclear scientist, and eventually reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. In 1968 he abandoned his job at the reactor and joined Lekem, an Israeli intelligence agency responsible for collecting scientific and technical information from abroad. In May 1981, Even leaked the news of preparations to carry out "

Operation Opera Operation Opera (), also known as Operation Babylon, was a surprise airstrike conducted by the Israeli Air Force on 7 June 1981, which destroyed an unfinished Iraqi nuclear reactor located southeast of Baghdad, Iraq. The Israeli operation ca ...

" to opposition leader

Shimon Peres Shimon Peres ( ; ; born Szymon Perski, ; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was an Israeli politician and statesman who served as the prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996 and as the president of Israel from 2007 t ...

. Peres subsequently wrote a letter of protest to Prime Minister

Menachem Begin Menachem Begin ( ''Menaḥem Begin'', ; (Polish documents, 1931–1937); ; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of both Herut and Likud and the prime minister of Israel. Before the creation of the state of Isra ...

, and the operation was delayed for a month. In 1993, Even participated in the first Knesset hearing on gays and lesbians, and revealed that the IDF had dismissed him and revoked his security clearance after it discovered he was gay. His testimony led to

Yitzhak Rabin Yitzhak Rabin (; , ; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the prime minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–1977, and from 1992 until Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, his ass ...

's government changing the law and regulations to allow homosexuals to serve in the army in any position, including one requiring a high

security clearance A security clearance is a status granted to individuals allowing them access to classified information (state or organizational secrets) or to restricted areas, after completion of a thorough background check. The term "security clearance" is ...

. In 1996, after Even's employer, Tel Aviv University, refused his then-partner, Amit Kama, spousal rights equal to those it granted to the spouses of staff in heterosexual marriages, he sued the university with help from the Association for Civil Rights in Israel. Even won the case, setting a legal precedent. In 2004, Even and Kama married in Canada. On 10 March 2009, the Family Court ruled that Even and Kama could legally adopt their 30-year-old foster son, Yossi Even-Kama, making them the first same-sex male couple in Israel whose right of adoption was legally acknowledged. In December 2012 Even set yet another legal precedent by divorcing Kama. The divorce was granted by the Family Court, since the Rabbinical Court does not recognize same-sex marriages. This might lead the way for straight couples to bypass the religious establishment as well, which - in Israel - holds monopoly on marriage and divorce affairs.

Political career

A member of

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 ...

, he narrowly missed out on being elected to the

fifteenth Knesset Early general elections for both the Prime Minister and the Knesset were held in Israel on 17 May 1999 following a vote of no confidence in the government; the incumbent Likud Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, ran for re-election. The elections ...

in 1999, but as the next placed candidate on the party's list, he became an MK when Amnon Rubinstein resigned in 2002, making him the first openly homosexual member of the Knesset. For the 2003 elections he was placed 15th on the party's list, and lost his seat when they won only six seats. In 2006, Even announced he was leaving Meretz and joining the Labor Party, feeling comfortable doing so after he noticed that Labor promised equality to all citizens in its election manifesto.

References

External links

*
Uzi Even's homepage on the Tel Aviv University website

Info on the Even-Lavie Valve
{{DEFAULTSORT:Even, Uzi 1940 births Living people 20th-century Israeli military personnel 21st-century Israeli military personnel Gay academics Gay scientists Gay military personnel Gay Jews Israeli activists Israeli physical chemists Jewish Israeli politicians LGBTQ members of the Knesset Israeli LGBTQ military personnel Israeli LGBTQ rights activists Israeli LGBTQ scientists Israeli gay politicians Members of the 15th Knesset (1999–2003) Meretz politicians Politicians from Haifa Scientists from Haifa Technion – Israel Institute of Technology alumni Tel Aviv University alumni Academic staff of Tel Aviv University