Ya'akov Edri (; also spelt Edery or Edrey, born 25 November 1950) is an Israeli politician, serving as the mayor of Or Akiva. He served as a member of the Knesset 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 ...

and

Kadima Kadima () was a centrist and liberal political party in Israel. It was established on 24 November 2005 by moderates from Likud largely following the implementation of Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan in August 2005, and was soon ...

between 2003 and 2013, as well as holding the posts of Minister of Immigrant Absorption, Minister of Negev and Galilee Development,

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare spending and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental heal ...

and a

Minister without Portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...

Biography

Born in

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 ...

, Edri emigrated to Israel in 1959. He attended 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 ...

, where he gained a BA in political science and an MA in public administration. Between 1989 and 2003, he served as mayor of Or Akiva, where he currently resides. In 2003, he was elected to the Knesset on the Likud list. On 10 March 2003, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Internal Security. In late November 2005, he resigned from

and joined

. On 18 January 2006 he was appointed Minister of Health and the Minister for the Development of the

Negev The Negev ( ; ) or Naqab (), is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southern end is the Gulf of Aqaba and the resort town, resort city ...

and the

Galilee Galilee (; ; ; ) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon consisting of two parts: the Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and the Lower Galilee (, ; , ). ''Galilee'' encompasses the area north of the Mount Carmel-Mount Gilboa ridge and ...

. Edri retained his seat in the 2006 elections, and on 27 July was named Minister without Portfolio responsible for Jerusalem Affairs. As part of a cabinet reshuffle in July 2007 he became both Minister of Immigrant Absorption and Minister of Negev and Galilee Development. He lost the former portfolio on 14 July 2008 when Eli Aflalo was appointed to the post. On 25 February 2007 he was appointed to be responsible for Israel's sixtieth anniversary celebrations. On the same day, he was questioned under caution on suspicion of having tried to receive personal benefits in return for promoting a police commander, Ya'akov Zigdon, whilst he was Deputy Minister of Internal Security. He denied the charges. He retained his seat in the 2009 elections after being placed thirteenth on the Kadima list. On 5 December 2012, in the days leading up to the 2013 elections, with polls showing Kadima either barely getting into the Knesset or not even passing the threshold, Edri announced he would not be contesting the elections. He then returned to local politics and resumed his post as mayor of Or Akiva.

References

External links

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Yaakov Edri
Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs {{DEFAULTSORT:Edri, Yaakov 1950 births Living people Jewish Israeli politicians Kadima politicians Likud politicians Mayors of places in Israel Members of the 16th Knesset (2003–2006) Members of the 17th Knesset (2006–2009) Members of the 18th Knesset (2009–2013) Ministers of health of Israel Moroccan emigrants to Israel 20th-century Moroccan Jews People from Or Akiva University of Haifa alumni Ministers without Portfolio of Israel