Yigal Cohen-Orgad (; 30 August 1937 – 27 August 2019) was an Israeli politician who served as

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

from October 1983 until September 1984. He was one of the founders of

Ariel University Ariel University (), previously a public college known as the Ariel University Center of Samaria, is an Israeli university located in the urban Israeli settlement of Ariel in the West Bank. The college preceding the establishment of Ariel Unive ...

, serving as its chancellor until his death.

Biography

Born 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 ...

during the Mandate era, Cohen-Orgad studied economics and education 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. ...

. During his youth, he was a member of the Bnei Etzel (''Young

Irgun The Irgun (), officially the National Military Organization in the Land of Israel, often abbreviated as Etzel or IZL (), was a Zionist paramilitary organization that operated in Mandatory Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was an offshoot of th ...

'') youth movement. In 1962 he started working in the Economic Planning Authority in the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

. He joined

Herut Herut () was the major conservative nationalist political party in Israel from 1948 until its formal merger into Likud in 1988. It was an adherent of Revisionist Zionism. Some of their policies were compared to those of the Nazi party. Early y ...

, but left and joined the

Free Centre The Free Centre (, ''HaMerkaz HaHofshi'') was a political party in Israel. It is one of the forerunners of the modern-day Likud. History The party was created on 29 March 1967 during the sixth Knesset when Shmuel Tamir led a breakaway of three ...

in 1965. He eventually returned to Herut, which by the mid-1970s had become part of the

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 ...

alliance. He became chairman of Herut's economic council, and in 1977, was elected to 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 ...

on the Likud list. He changed his name from Yigal Cohen to Yigal Cohen-Orgad to differentiate himself from

Yigal Cohen Yigal Cohen (; 1928 – 6 December 1988) was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Likud between 1974 and 1988. Biography Born in Tel Adashim during the Mandate era, during his youth Cohen co-ordinated the Youth Commi ...

, another Likud MK; "Orgad" was created from the initials of his four children.Ariel University director, former MK Yigal Cohen-Orgad dies aged 82
The Jerusalem Post, 27 August 2019 Re-elected in 1981, he was appointed Minister of Finance in October 1983, replacing Yoram Aridor. Although he retained his seat in the 1984 elections, he was not included in the new cabinet. He lost his Knesset seat in the 1988 elections. Together with

Moshe Arens Moshe Arens (; 27 December 1925 – 7 January 2019) was an Israeli aeronautical engineer, researcher, diplomat, and Likud politician. A member of the Knesset between 1973 and 1992 and again from 1999 until 2003, he served as Minister of Defense ...

, Cohen-Orgad was a driving force behind Israeli higher education in the occupied

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 ...

. Among the active founders of the College of Judea and Samaria, he became the major factor in its development into

raising millions of dollars from private and public sources. In 2013 he was presented with Moskowitz Prize for

Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

References

External links

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Yigal Cohen-Orgad Wins Moskowitz Prize
Friends of Ariel
Orgad, Israel & the Peace ProcessCohen-Orgad replaces AridorCohen-Orgad holds burning torch in Betar uniform, before setting out for torch run in first Betaryada
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen-Orgad, Yigal 1937 births 2019 deaths 20th-century Israeli civil servants Academic staff of Ariel University Betar members Burials at Yarkon Cemetery Free Centre politicians Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni Herut politicians Jewish Israeli politicians Jews from Mandatory Palestine Likud politicians Members of the 9th Knesset (1977–1981) Members of the 10th Knesset (1981–1984) Members of the 11th Knesset (1984–1988) Ministers of finance of Israel Moskowitz Prize for Zionism laureates Politicians from Tel Aviv