Ariel Atias ( he, אריאל אטיאס, born 13 November 1970) is an Israeli politician who served as a member of the

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

for

Shas Shas ( he, ש״ס) is a Haredi religious political party in Israel. Founded in 1984 under the leadership of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, a former Israeli Sephardi chief rabbi, who remained its spiritual leader until his death in October 2013, it primarily ...

, and as the country's Minister of Housing and Construction. He was also manager of Shas' kosher supervision organization,

Badatz Beit Yosef Badatz Beit Yosef is a kosher certification that is widely used by Sephardic and other Jews in Israel. Badatz Beit Yosef follows the guidelines set by Rabbi Yosef Caro. In Israel, an estimated 70 percent of restaurants use the Badatz Beit Yosef st ...

. On 22 June 2014, he handed his resignation from the Parliament, citing his departure from the political scene.

Early life

Born in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

to parents who were Jewish immigrants from

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

Career

Atias was first elected to the

on Shas' list in the 2006 elections. In May 2006, he was promoted to the position of Minister of Communications in the last

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

. He retained his seat in the

2009 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2009. * Electoral calendar 2009 * 2009 United Nations Security Council election Caribbean * 2009 Antiguan general election * 2009 Aruban general election * 2009 Caymanian constitutional referendu ...

, having been placed second on the Shas list, and was appointed Minister of Housing and Construction in the Netanyahu government. In June 2009, Atias called for the

segregation Segregation may refer to: Separation of people * Geographical segregation, rates of two or more populations which are not homogenous throughout a defined space * School segregation * Housing segregation * Racial segregation, separation of humans ...

of Israel's Arab population from Jewish Israelis, saying that achieving it was "a national duty ... populations that should not mix are spreading ... I don't think that it is appropriate /nowiki>for them/nowiki> to live together". Atias retained his seat again in the

2013 Knesset elections Early elections for the nineteenth Knesset were held in Israel on 22 January 2013. Public debate over the Tal Law had nearly led to early elections in 2012, but they were aborted at the last moment after Kadima briefly joined the government. Th ...

, but Shas was not included in the coalition, resulting in Atias losing his ministerial post. He resigned from the Knesset in June 2014 in order to take a break from politics, and was replaced by

Yoav Ben-Tzur Rabbi Yoav Ben-Tzur (, born 11 June 1958) is an Israeli politician who currently serves as a member of the Knesset for Shas, Minister in the Ministry of Labor, and as acting Minister of Health. Ben-Tzur previously served as the Deputy Minister of ...

Minister of Communications

As the Minister of Communications, Atias created a major cellular reform in Israel, which led to Israel's connectivity fees being one of the lowest in the OECD. He also created the number portability reform in which a user is given the rights to his cellular number, thus allowing users more freedom to move from one company to another, encouraging competition between cellular companies Another one of his initiatives as Minister of Communications was opening the market for

Mobile virtual network operators A mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) is a wireless communications services provider that does not own the wireless network infrastructure over which it provides services to its customers. An MVNO enters into a business agreement with a mobile ...

. In 2007, he tried to get a law passed that would censor violence, sex, and gambling on the internet.Big Brother in Israel?
Ynetnews, 21 July 2007

Personal life

Atias is married, has four children, and lives in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

.Ariel Atias
Knesset website

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Atias, Ariel 1970 births Living people People from Tel Aviv Israeli Orthodox Jews Shas leaders Israeli people of Moroccan-Jewish descent Badatz Beit Yosef Members of the 17th Knesset (2006–2009) Members of the 18th Knesset (2009–2013) Members of the 19th Knesset (2013–2015) Ministers of Communications of Israel Ministers of Housing of Israel