Eliyahu Michael "Eli" Ben-Dahan ( he, אלי בן דהן, born 11 February 1954) is an Israeli
Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...
rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
and politician. He most recently 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
Ahi and Deputy
Minister of Defense. In that position, he was responsible for "pre-military training academies, hesder program which combine military service and yeshiva study, military conversion programs, legislation between Israeli law and the military rule in Judea-Samaria, and to deal with public infrastructure in Judea-Samaria".
[MK Ben Dahan Put in Charge of Army Conversion Programs]
Arutz Sheva, 7 July 2015
He was previously a Knesset member for
the Jewish Home
The Jewish Home ( he, הַבַּיִת הַיְהוּדִי, HaBayit HaYehudi) is an Orthodox Jewish and religious Zionist political party in Israel. It was originally formed by a merger of the National Religious Party, Moledet, and Tkuma in ...
and
Likud
Likud ( he, הַלִּיכּוּד, HaLikud, The Consolidation), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement, is a major centre-right to right-wing political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sha ...
from 2013 until 2019, and Deputy
Minister of Religious Services between 2013 and 2015.
Early life
The eldest of five boys,
[Rabbi Ben Dahan, Jewish Home: I've Worked Hard on Behalf of Women]
The Jewish Press, 16 January 2013 Ben-Dahan was born in
Casablanca,
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 t ...
, and
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 ...
to Israel in 1956 at the age of two, his family settling 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. ...
.
[ He studied at the Nativ Meir and ]Mercaz HaRav
Mercaz HaRav (officially, he, מרכז הרב - הישיבה המרכזית העולמית, "The Center of Rabbi ook- the Central Universal Yeshiva") is a national-religious yeshiva in Jerusalem, founded in 1924 by Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Abraha ...
yeshivas, and is an ordained rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
. During his national service
National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939.
The ...
in the IDF
IDF or idf may refer to:
Defence forces
* Irish Defence Forces
* Israel Defense Forces
*Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006
* Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917
Organizations
* Israeli Diving Federation
* Interac ...
, he became a major in the Artillery Corps.[ He later went on to gain a teaching certificate, a bachelor's degree in business administration from ]Touro College
Touro University is a private Jewish university system headquartered in New York City, with branches throughout the United States as well as one each in Germany, Israel and Russia. It was founded by Bernard Lander in 1971 and named for Isaac ...
, and a master's degree in public policy from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.[ He was ]ordained
Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...
by Rabbis Chalom Messas
Shalom Messas (Hebrew: שלום משאש) was a Sephardic rabbi and scholar who served as Chief Rabbi of Morocco, and later as Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem.
Biography
Messas was born in Meknes, Morocco in 1909. He was the son of Rabbi Mimoun Mess ...
, Avraham Shapira
Avraham Shapira ( he, אברהם אלקנה כהנא שפירא; 20 May 1914, Jerusalem – 27 September 2007) was a prominent rabbi in the Religious Zionist world. Shapira had been the head of the Rabbinical court of Jerusalem, and both a ...
, and Mordechai Eliyahu
Mordechai Tzemach Eliyahu ( he, מרדכי צמח אליהו, March 3, 1929 – June 7, 2010, on the Hebrew calendar: 21 Adar I, 5689 - 25 Siwan, 5770), .[
]
Career
In 1978, Ben-Dahan was amongst the founders of the Haspin settlement
Settlement may refer to:
*Human settlement, a community where people live
*Settlement (structural), the distortion or disruption of parts of a building
* Closing (real estate), the final step in executing a real estate transaction
*Settlement (fin ...
in the Golan Heights
The Golan Heights ( ar, هَضْبَةُ الْجَوْلَانِ, Haḍbatu l-Jawlān or ; he, רמת הגולן, ), or simply the Golan, is a region in the Levant spanning about . The region defined as the Golan Heights differs between di ...
.[ In 1983, he moved to Beit El settlement in the ]West Bank
The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
after being asked by Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu
Mordechai Tzemach Eliyahu ( he, מרדכי צמח אליהו, March 3, 1929 – June 7, 2010, on the Hebrew calendar: 21 Adar I, 5689 - 25 Siwan, 5770), , then Chief Rabbi of Israel, to manage his office.[ He became Director-General of the ]Chief Rabbinate of Israel
The Chief Rabbinate of Israel ( he, הָרַבָּנוּת הָרָאשִׁית לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, ''Ha-Rabbanut Ha-Rashit Li-Yisra'el'') is recognized by law as the supreme rabbinic authority for Judaism in Israel. The Chief Rabbinate C ...
's Rabbinical Court
A beit din ( he, בית דין, Bet Din, house of judgment, , Ashkenazic: ''beis din'', plural: batei din) is a rabbinical court of Judaism. In ancient times, it was the building block of the legal system in the Biblical Land of Israel. Today, it ...
system in 1989, holding the post for 21 years. During his tenure as director of the rabbinical courts, he promoted legislation to enact punitive sanctions on husbands who refused their wives a ''get
Get or GET may refer to:
* Get (animal), the offspring of an animal
* Get (divorce document), in Jewish religious law
* GET (HTTP), a type of HTTP request
* "Get" (song), by the Groggers
* Georgia Time, used in the Republic of Georgia
* Get AS, a ...
'' (bill of divorce), had the divorce process streamlined, and promoted the introduction of female advocates into the rabbinical courts.[Meet the MK: Eli Ben-Dahan]
''The Jerusalem Post'', 15 January 2013
Prior to the 2013 Knesset elections, he was placed fourth on the Jewish Home list, entering the Knesset, as the party won twelve seats. Following the elections, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Religious Services in the new government. He was re-elected in 2015, after being placed fourth on the party's list again. He was subsequently appointed Deputy Minister of Defense in the new government.
In remarks to graduates of a pre-military academy, Ben-Dahan said, "Your most important task is to increase the spiritual strength and protection of the IDF."[Ben-Dahan to Soldiers: Prove Israel is World's Most Moral Army]
Arutz Sheva, 17 June 2015
In the run-up to the April 2019 Knesset elections, Ben-Dahan left the Jewish Home and joined the defunct Ahi party in order to run on the Likud list. The switch was intended to avoid election restrictions on allowing a candidate from another party competing in elections to run on another party's list.
Personal life
Ben-Dahan lives in Har Homa in East Jerusalem, and is married, with ten children.[
]
Political views
Ben-Dahan has stirred controversy with some of his statements, which were cited after his appointment to administer the IDF's civil administration in the West Bank, with jurisdiction over Palestinian residents there:
In 2013, while discussing the resumption of peace talks in a radio interview, Ben-Dahan said: "To me, they alestinians/nowiki> are like animals, they are not human." He further remarked that "the Palestinians aren't educated towards peace, nor do they want it".
In June 2015, Ben-Dahan also spoke out after a report in ''The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' claimed Israel used a computer virus to spy on nuclear negotiations with Iran. "The deputy defense minister called the allegations 'nonsense', and assured the interviewer that Israel had other ways of gathering intelligence, and didn't need to resort to hacking."
In July 2015, after a Palestinian youth was shot dead for throwing stones, Ben-Dahan spoke out in defense of the IDF commander, "Throwing stones is terrorism. Stones kill. The Binyamin Brigade commander was acting in self-defense."
In August 2016, after soldiers were ordered to no longer assist migrants in conjunction with NGO Elifelet, Ben-Dahan spoke out in defense of the decision: "These people have infiltrated into Israel, taken Israelis' jobs, and made south Tel Aviv an impossible place to live." He explained that "Israeli soldiers should volunteer for programs that benefit Israeli citizens".
On 18 November 2018, the Jewish Home Party revealed that Netanyahu had made a decision on 15 November 2018, to remove Ben-Dahan as Deputy Defense Minister. Ben-Dahan also released a separate statement criticizing Netanyahu. Netanyahu fended off an attempt to hold a vote in Knesset to reinstate Ben-Dahan, who was required by government protocol to resign when Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman
Avigdor Lieberman (, ; russian: Эве́т Льво́вич Ли́берман, Evet Lvovich Liberman, ; born 5 June 1958) is a Soviet-born Israeli politician serving as Minister of Finance since 2021, having previously served twice as Deputy ...
officially resigned on 18 November. Despite briefly removing Ben-Dahan from his government, Netanyahu soon gave into pressure from the Jewish Home, and re-appointed Ben-Dahan as Deputy Defense Minister.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ben-Dahan, Eli
1954 births
Living people
Deputy ministers of Israel
Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Social Sciences alumni
Israeli civil servants
Israeli Orthodox rabbis
Israeli settlers
Members of the 19th Knesset (2013–2015)
Members of the 20th Knesset (2015–2019)
Members of the 21st Knesset (2019)
Mercaz HaRav alumni
Moroccan emigrants to Israel
20th-century Moroccan Jews
Politicians from Beersheba
People from Casablanca
The Jewish Home politicians
Religious Zionist Party politicians
Touro College alumni
Rabbinic members of the Knesset