Avi Nissenkorn (, born 20 March 1967)
is an Israeli lawyer and politician. He 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
Blue and White from 2019 to 2021, and as Minister of Justice from 2020 to 2021. He previously served as General Secretary (chairman) of the
Histadrut labor union between June 2014 and March 2019.
Biography
Avraham (Avi) Nissenkorn was born in
Afula
Afula ( he, עפולה Arabic: العفولة) is a city in the Northern District of Israel, often known as the "Capital of the Valley" due to its strategic location in the Jezreel Valley. As of , the city had a population of .
Afula's ancient ...
to Israel and Ilana, physicians who
immigrated
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...
from Poland.
He was Israel's youth sprinting champion, and holds the underage Israeli record for 200 m.
He participated in the
.
In the
Israel Defense Forces, he served as a sports instructor at
Bahad 4
Bahad 4 ( he, בה"ד 4), commonly known as Batar Zikim (בט"ר זיקים, ''lit.'' Zikim Training Base) is a training base (''Bahad'') belonging to the Israel Defense Forces.
Zikim is located 8 km south of Ashkelon. It was named after the ...
.
Nissenkorn studied at
Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...
and earned a bachelor's degree in law.
Nissenkorn met his wife Andrea while studying at Tel Aviv University. They have two children, Ori and Ron and live in
Hod HaSharon
Hod HaSharon ( he, הוֹד הַשָּׁרוֹן, lit. "Splendor of the Sharon plain") is a city in the Central District of Israel. The city is located approximately east of the Mediterranean coastline, south of Kfar Saba, southeast of Raanana, ...
.
His younger son Ron has severe epilepsy.
Legal career
Nissenkorn started his career with an internship at Benjamin M. Cohen and Associates, a
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 ...
law firm.
Nissenkorn began at the Histadrut trade union in the late 1990s, as head of the
collective agreement
A collective agreement, collective labour agreement (CLA) or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a written contract negotiated through collective bargaining for employees by one or more trade unions with the management of a company (or with an ...
department. He continued as head of the legal department of Histadrut's professional unions.
In this capacity, he participated in negotiations related to large-scale government reforms, such as the transition from budgetary to cumulative pensions,
Bezeq
Bezeq ( he, בזק) is an Israeli telecommunications company. Bezeq and its subsidiaries offer a range of telecom services, including fixed-line, mobile telephony, high-speed Internet, transmission, and pay TV (via Yes).
History
Bezeq was foun ...
's privatization and others.
In 2001 he founded a private law firm specializing in labor laws, and returned to Histadrut in 2010 at Eini's request, to chair the professional unions—a position considered second only to the general secretary. He sold the private firm to
Orna Lin & Co.
In May 2014, following chairman
Ofer Eini's resignation, Nissenkorn ran uncontested in an internal leadership election, where Histadrut's 171-member parliament would pick the new chairman, as a member of Eini's ''Oganim'' faction. The election itself was contested by Labor politician
Eitan Cabel. Cabel claimed that the internal election was illegal and that in the case of a chairman's resignation, general Histadrut elections would have to be called. The case reached the
Supreme Court, where it was struck down.
As chairman, Nissenkorn helped finalise a deal that ensured contract workers working for government agencies would move to direct employment, and agreements for general pay raises for government employees. However, he was criticized for not doing enough to curb the contract worker phenomenon in practice, as well as over-representing major labor unions at the expense of ordinary workers.
Political career
In February 2016, Nissenkorn registered as a member of the
Labor Party.
In February 2019, in the lead-up to the
April 2019 national elections, Nissenkorn joined the
Israel Resilience Party
The Israel Resilience Party ( he, חוסן לישראל, Hosen LeYisrael, Resilience for Israel), is a liberal political party in Israel founded in December 2018 by Benny Gantz, former Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces. T ...
led by
Benny Gantz
Benjamin Gantz ( he, בִּנְיָמִין "בֵּנִי" גַּנְץ, Transliterated: ; born 9 June 1959) is an Israeli politician and retired army general serving as the minister of Defense since 2020 and deputy prime minister of Israel si ...
.
He was placed fifth on the party list, and was reportedly promised a ministership by Gantz should the faction succeed in forming a government. On 17 May 2020, Nissenkorn was sworn in as Israeli Minister of Justice. In December 2020, he announced that he would join
Ron Huldai
Ron Huldai ( he, רוֹן חוּלְדָּאִי; born 26 August 1944) is the current Mayor of Tel Aviv, since 1998. Before he entered his role as Tel Aviv mayor, Huldai served as a fighter pilot and a commander in the Israeli Air Force. After ...
's new party,
The Israelis. He was replaced by
Vladimir Beliak. Nissenkorn left The Israelis on 31 January 2021.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nissenkorn, Avi
1967 births
Living people
Blue and White (political alliance) politicians
General Secretaries of Histadrut
Government ministers of Israel
Israeli lawyers
Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent
Israeli trade unionists
Jewish Israeli politicians
Members of the 21st Knesset (2019)
Members of the 22nd Knesset (2019–2020)
Members of the 23rd Knesset (2020–2021)
Ministers of Justice of Israel
People from Afula
Tel Aviv University alumni