Yitzhak Aharonovich (; born 22 August 1950) is an Israeli businessman and former politician. He served 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

Yisrael Beiteinu Yisrael Beiteinu (, ) is a conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may ...

between 2006 and 2015 and also held the posts of

Minister of Tourism The Minister of Tourism is the head of the governmental department that specializes in tourism, recreation and/or culture. The position exists in many countries under several names: *Ministry of Tourism and Environment (Albania) *Ministry of Touri ...

and Minister of Public Security. He is currently Chairman of

Mekorot Mekorot (, lit. "Sources") is the national water company of Israel and the country's top agency for water management. Founded in 1937, it supplies Israel with approx. 80% of its drinking water and operates a cross-country water supply network kno ...

Biography

Yitzhak Aharonovich was born in

West Jerusalem West Jerusalem or Western Jerusalem (, ; , ) refers to the section of Jerusalem that was controlled by Israel at the end of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. As the city was divided by the Green Line (Israel's erstwhile border, established by ...

Holocaust survivors Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no universall ...

from

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

. He grew up in

moshav A moshav (, plural ', "settlement, village") is a type of Israeli village or town or Jewish settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 and 1 ...

Dishon Dishon () is a moshav in northern Israel. It is located near the border with Lebanon, within the Naftali Mountains, near the Dishon Stream. It falls under the jurisdiction of Mevo'ot HaHermon Regional Council. As of it had a population of . Hi ...

and studied at a

yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...

Safed Safed (), also known as Tzfat (), is a city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of up to , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and in Israel. Safed has been identified with (), a fortif ...

. In 1968, he began his mandatory military service 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 ...

, and served as a deputy company commander and instructor at a training base. He later studied history at 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 ...

and graduated with a BA. In 1972, he joined the

Israel Border Police The Israel Border Police () is the gendarmerie and border security branch of the Israel National Police. It is also commonly known by its Hebrew abbreviation Magav (), meaning border guard; its members are colloquially known as ''magavnikim ...

, and during the 1973

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states led by Egypt and S ...

he was stationed on the border with

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

. Aharonovich lives in

Even Yehuda Even Yehuda () is a town in the central Sharon region of Israel east of Netanya. In it had a population of . Etymology Even Yehuda is named for Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, one of the leading figures in the revival of the Hebrew language. Location Even ...

with his family.

Military and police career

In the 1980s he headed the northern command of the Israel Border Police, and led rescue operations during the two Tyre catastrophes. He continued to rise through the ranks, and in 1993 he was promoted to major general and appointed commander of the Border Police. He later served as a representative of the

Israel Police The Israel Police (; ) is the civilian police force of Israel. As with most other police forces in the world, its duties include crime fighting, traffic control, maintaining public safety, and counter-terrorism. It is under the jurisdiction o ...

in the Americas for two years. In 1998 was appointed head of police in 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 ...

, and became head of the Southern District police in 2001. From 2002 to 2004 he was deputy police commissioner. In 2004, he left the police, and served as director-general of the

Dan Bus Company Dan Bus Company () is an Israeli bus company based in Tel Aviv. It operates local bus service in the Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area (Gush Dan). Dan operates 1,200 buses and has 2,400 employees. It transports approximately over 600,000 passengers d ...

from 2004 to 2005.

Political career

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

he was elected to the Knesset on Yisrael Beiteinu's list. In March 2007, he was appointed Minister of Tourism, but his tenure ended in January 2008 when the party left

Ehud Olmert Ehud Olmert (; , ; born 30 September 1945) is an Israeli politician and lawyer who served as the prime minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009. The son of a former Herut politician, Olmert was first elected to the Knesset for Likud in 1973, at th ...

's coalition government. He retained his seat in the 2009 elections, for which he was placed fourth on the party's list. Upon the formation of the Netanyahu government on 31 March 2009, he was appointed Minister of Public Security. On 16 June 2009, Aharonovich attracted controversy over a comment he made during a meeting with an undercover police detective 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 ...

's Central Bus Station. After the detective apologized for being untidy while meeting Aharonovich, Aharonovich replied that he looked as dirty as an "Araboosh" a Hebrew slur roughly translating as "dirty Arab". He was denounced by several members of the Knesset as a racist following that, and subsequently apologized. He was praised for his actions during the 2010 Mount Carmel forest fire. He was re-elected in the 2013 elections, and retained his post as Minister of Public Security. In January 2015 he announced that he was retiring from politics, and would not contest the

2015 elections Africa * 2015 Beninese parliamentary election 26 April 2015 * 2015 Burkinabé general election 29 November 2015 * 2015 Burundian legislative election 29 June 2015 * 2015 Burundian presidential election 21 July 2015 * 2015-16 Central African gene ...

. and in November 2016 he became chairman of IMI Systems Ltd.Liberman to appoint party members as IAI, IMI chairs
Globes, 7 July 2016

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aharonovich, Yitzhak 1950 births Living people Israeli people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Israeli police officers Jewish Israeli politicians Members of the 17th Knesset (2006–2009) Members of the 18th Knesset (2009–2013) Members of the 19th Knesset (2013–2015) Ministers of public security of Israel Ministers of tourism of Israel Moshavniks Politicians from Jerusalem University of Haifa alumni Yisrael Beiteinu politicians Businesspeople from Jerusalem