Amir Ohana ( he, אָמִיר אוֹחָנָה, born 15 March 1976) is an Israeli

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solicit ...

, former

Shin Bet The Israel Security Agency (ISA; he, שֵׁירוּת הַבִּיטָּחוֹן הַכְּלָלִי; ''Sherut ha-Bitaẖon haKlali''; "the General Security Service"; ar, جهاز الأمن العام), better known by the acronym Shabak ( he, ...

official and politician who currently serves 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 (wit ...

for Likud. He previously held the posts of

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

and Minister of Public Security. He was the first openly gay

right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this pos ...

member of the Knesset and the first openly gay man from Likud to serve in the Knesset. He is also the first openly gay person to be appointed as a minister in the Israeli government in 2019.

Early life

Ohana was born in

Beersheba Beersheba or Beer Sheva, officially Be'er-Sheva ( he, בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, ''Bəʾēr Ševaʿ'', ; ar, بئر السبع, Biʾr as-Sabʿ, Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven), is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. ...

, the third son of Meir and Esther Ohana, 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 A ...

. In his youth, his family moved to Lehavim and then to

Rishon LeZion Rishon LeZion ( he, רִאשׁוֹן לְצִיּוֹן , ''lit.'' First to Zion, Arabic: راشون لتسيون) is a city in Israel, located along the central Israeli coastal plain south of Tel Aviv. It is part of the Gush Dan metropolitan ...

. He served in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

as a road accident investigator in the

Military Police Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear rec ...

. He served as part of a force securing traffic arteries in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...

and as a road accident investigator in southern Israel, completed an officer's course, and was a commander of the

Karni crossing The Karni Crossing ( ar, معبر كارني or معبر المنطار, he, מעבר קרני) was a cargo terminal on the Israel-Gaza Strip barrier located in the north-eastern end of the Gaza Strip and was opened in 1994 to allow Palestin ...

. He also commanded a military police base. Ohana served a total of six years of regular service in the IDF, and is still a reservist. After leaving regular military service, he served in

for another six years. Ohana studied law at the

College of Management Academic Studies The College of Management Academic Studies, a college located in the city of Rishon LeZion, Israel, is the largest college in Israel. Founded in 1978, COLMAN is the first non-subsidized, not-for-profit research academic institution in Israel to ...

, and after earning an LLB, he interned with the Israeli Justice Ministry in the State Prosecutor's Office. He then worked as a lawyer in criminal law for a decade.

Political career

The chairman of the Likud gay caucus '' Likud Pride'', Ohana gained 32nd slot on the Likud list for the 2015 Knesset elections in the party primaries, a place reserved for a member from

Tel Aviv District The Tel Aviv District ( he, מָחוֹז תֵּל אָבִיב; ar, منطقة تل أبيب) is the smallest and most densely populated of the six administrative districts of Israel with a population of 1.35 million residents. It is 98.9% Jewi ...

. Although he failed to gain a seat when the party won 30 seats, he moved to 31st spot after minister and MK Danny Danon resigned from the Knesset to assume position of Israel's envoy to the UN. Ohana eventually entered the Knesset on 27 December 2015 as a replacement for

Silvan Shalom Zion Silvan Shalom ( he, ציון סילבן שלום, born 4 August 1958) is an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Likud between 1992 and 2015. He held several prominent ministerial positions, including being Vice Prim ...

after he resigned amidst a sexual harassment scandal. During his first term in the Knesset, he served as a member of the Finance Committee and the

Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee The Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee ( he, ועדת חוץ וביטחון) is a permanent Knesset committee which oversees key Foreign and Defense issues of the State of Israel, including the drafting of legislation, supervision over relat ...

, as well chairing the Lobby for Shaping the Gun-Carrying Policy in Israel and joining the Lobby for Medical Cannabis. He also became co-chair the Israel–Japan Parliamentary Friendship Group.Amir Ohana: Knesset Activities
Knesset After being re-elected in the April 2019 elections he was appointed

in June, becoming the first openly LGBT individual to serve in the government. His appointment came after controversial comments from

Bezalel Smotrich Bezalel Yoel Smotrich (, born 27 February 1980) is an Israeli lawyer and far-right politician. The leader of the Religious Zionist Party, he previously served as a Knesset member for Yamina. Biography Bezalel Smotrich was born in Haspin, a ...

, another contender for the office, saying that he would like to establish a halachic state governed by Jewish religious law. Ohana was considered a Netanyahu loyalist and supported exempting the prime minister from prosecution in the Netanyahu corruption investigations. He was re-elected in September 2019 and March 2020. In May 2020 he was appointed Minister of Public Security in the new government. In July 2020 he resigned from the Knesset under the Norwegian Law and was replaced by Amit Halevi. For the 2021 elections, Ohana was placed eighteenth on Likud's list, and returned to the Knesset, as Likud won thirty seats. He left the cabinet after a new government was formed, with Likud going into opposition. On 22 November 2022, it was reported that Prime Minister-designate

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...

was considering appointing Ohana as

Foreign Minister of Israel The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( he, מִשְׂרַד הַחוּץ, translit. ''Misrad HaHutz''; ar, وزارة الخارجية الإسرائيلية) is one of the most important ministries in the Israeli government. The ministry's ...

in Netanyahu's incoming government. The potential appointment would make Ohana the first LGBT Foreign Minister in Israeli history.

Views and opinions

Ohana is a supporter of loosening the policy on carrying firearms in Israel in order to allow more armed people on streets for prevention and fast reaction to terror attacks. After entering the Knesset, Ohana inaugurated the caucus to lobby and promote this cause. When opposition members of Knesset in February 2016 proposed several bills intended to improve the

gay community The LGBT community (also known as the LGBTQ+ community, GLBT community, gay community, or queer community) is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other queer individuals united by a common culture and ...

’s status such as recognizing bereaved widowers, banning

conversion therapy Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. In contrast to evidence-based medicine and clin ...

, recognizing

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

contracts and to train health professionals to deal with gender and sexual inclination issues, Ohana left the session without voting; he said he could not vote against these bills, but he did not want to violate the party line. He is a board member of Tadmor – Eretz Yisrael loyalists group within the Likud.

Personal life

Ohana and his partner, Alon Hadad, have a son and a daughter together. Their children were born with a

surrogate mother Surrogacy is an arrangement, often supported by a legal agreement, whereby a woman agrees to delivery/labour for another person or people, who will become the child's parent(s) after birth. People may seek a surrogacy arrangement when pregnan ...

in the US state of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. They live in Tel Aviv.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ohana, Amir 1976 births Living people 20th-century Israeli military personnel 21st-century Israeli lawyers College of Management Academic Studies alumni Israeli Jews Israeli officers Israeli people of Moroccan-Jewish descent Gay politicians Jewish human rights activists Jewish Israeli politicians Jewish military personnel LGBT conservatism LGBT Jews LGBT members of the Knesset LGBT rights activists from Israel Likud politicians Members of the 20th Knesset (2015–2019) Members of the 21st Knesset (2019) Members of the 22nd Knesset (2019–2020) Members of the 23rd Knesset (2020–2021) Members of the 24th Knesset (2021–2022) Members of the 25th Knesset (2022–) Ministers of Justice of Israel Ministers of Public Security of Israel People from Rishon LeZion People of the Shin Bet Politicians from Beersheba 21st-century LGBT people Lawyers from Beersheba