Gideon Ezra ( he, גדעון עזרא, 30 June 1937 – 17 May 2012) was an Israeli 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

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 Sharon ...

and

Kadima Kadima ( he, קדימה, lit=''Forward'') was a centrist and liberal political party in Israel. It was established on 24 November 2005 by moderates from Likud largely following the implementation of Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan ...

between 1996 and 2012, and also held several ministerial portfolios.

Biography

Ezra's family came originally as immigrants from

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

and settled in

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

. He was born in

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

and served in the

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

between 1955 and 1958 in the

Nahal Nahal ( he, נח"ל) (acronym of ''Noar Halutzi Lohem'', lit. Fighting Pioneer Youth) is a program that combines military service with mostly social welfare and informal education projects such as youth movement activities, as well as training ...

. He studied geography and political science at the

University of Haifa The University of Haifa ( he, אוניברסיטת חיפה Arabic: جامعة حيفا) is a university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation in 1972, becoming Is ...

. He worked for the

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, ...

from 1962 to 1995. After leaving the service, he served as an advisor to then Minister of Internal Security,

Moshe Shahal Moshe Shahal ( he, משה שחל; born 20 May 1934) is a former Israeli politician. Biography Born in Baghdad in Iraq, Shahal made aliyah in 1950. He studied economics and political science at the University of Haifa, before graduating with a l ...

Political career

Ezra was elected to the Knesset in the 1996 elections on the

list, and retained his seat in the

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

and 2003 elections. After

Ariel Sharon Ariel Sharon (; ; ; also known by his diminutive Arik, , born Ariel Scheinermann, ; 26 February 1928 – 11 January 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006. S ...

beat

Ehud Barak Ehud Barak ( he-a, אֵהוּד בָּרָק, Ehud_barak.ogg, link=yes, born Ehud Brog; 12 February 1942) is an Israeli general and politician who served as the tenth prime minister from 1999 to 2001. He was leader of the Labor Party until Jan ...

in the 2001 election for Prime Minister, Ezra was appointed Deputy Minister of Internal Security. He was given his first full ministerial position after the 2003 elections when appointed Minister in the Ministry of the Prime Minister's Office. When

Binyamin Elon Rabbi Binyamin "Benny" Elon ( he, בנימין אלון, 10 November 1954 – 5 May 2017) was an Israeli Orthodox rabbi and politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Moledet and the National Union between 1996 and 2009. A ninth-genera ...

was sacked as

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 different countries under several names: *Ministry of Tourism and Environment (Albania) * Minist ...

in July 2004, Ezra replaced him, initially as Acting Minister (the position was made permanent at the end of August). From September 2004 he also held the position of Acting Minister of Internal Security after

Tzachi Hanegbi Tzachi Hanegbi ( he, צַחִי הַנֶּגְבִּי, born 26 February 1957) is an Israeli politician and national security expert. A member of Likud, Hanegbi previously served as Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Minister of R ...

resigned in the face of corruption allegations. This ministerial post was also made permanent in November, and Ezra oversaw the evacuation of the

Amona Amona may refer to: Places * Amona, Goa, a village in Goa, India *Amona, Mateh Binyamin, an Israeli outpost in the central West Bank *Isla de Mona, known in the pre-Columbian era as Amona Other *"Amona", a song on the album ''Necessary Evil A ne ...

settlement in February 2006. In November 2005 he was attacked during a rally in

Sderot Sderot ( he, שְׂדֵרוֹת, , lit. ''Boulevards'', ar, سديروت) is a western Negev city and former development town in the Southern District of Israel. In it had a population of . Sderot is located less than a mile from Gaza (the c ...

against

Israel's unilateral disengagement plan The Israeli disengagement from Gaza ( he, תוכנית ההתנתקות, ') was the unilateral dismantling in 2005 of the 21 Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip and the evacuation of Israeli settlers and army from inside the Gaza Strip. Th ...

over his support for it. In January 2005 he was replaced as Tourism Minister by

Avraham Hirschson Avraham Hirschson ( he, אברהם הירשזון; 11 February 1941 – 7 March 2022) was an Israeli politician. He served as a member of the Knesset for Likud and Kadima between 1981 and 1984, and again from 1992 until 2009. He also held the po ...

. When Sharon founded

in late 2005, Ezra joined him, picking up the Environment Ministry portfolio from Labor's

Shalom Simhon Shalom Simhon ( he, שלום שמחון, born 7 December 1956) is an Israeli politician and former member of the Knesset for Independence and the Labor Party. He previously served as the Minister of Industry, Trade and Labour and Minister of ...

. After the 2006 elections he was appointed Minister of Environmental Protection by

Ehud Olmert Ehud Olmert (; he, אֶהוּד אוֹלְמֶרְט, ; born 30 September 1945) is an Israeli politician and lawyer. He served as the 12th Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009 and before that as a cabinet minister from 1988 to 1992 and ...

. In April 2007 he opposed plans to build a solar energy plant near

Dimona Dimona ( he, דִּימוֹנָה, ar, ديمونا) is an Israeli city in the Negev desert, to the south-east of Beersheba and west of the Dead Sea above the Arava valley in the Southern District of Israel. In its population was . The Shi ...

to avoid harm to a nature reserve. He has also overseen the expansion of

container deposit legislation Container-deposit legislation (also known as a container-deposit scheme, deposit-refund system or scheme, deposit-return system, or bottle bill) is any law that requires the collection of a monetary deposit on beverage containers (refillable or ...

to cover 1.5 litre bottles. He retained his seat again 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 twelfth on the Kadima list. However, he lost his place in the cabinet as the Likud-led coalition formed the government. On 17 May 2012, aged 74, Ezra died of lung cancer after a two-year battle with the disease. He was succeeded by

Akram Hasson Akram Hasson ( ar, أكرم حسون, he, אכרם חסון, born 2 July 1959) is an Israeli Druze politician who served as a member of the Knesset in several spells from 2012 to 2019, first as MK for Kadima between 2012 and 2013, and then as a ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ezra, Gideon 1937 births 2012 deaths Deaths from lung cancer in Israel Deputy ministers of Israel Israeli geographers Israeli Sephardi Jews Israeli people of Iraqi-Jewish descent Jewish Israeli politicians Sephardi Jews in Mandatory Palestine Kadima politicians Likud politicians Members of the 14th Knesset (1996–1999) Members of the 15th Knesset (1999–2003) Members of the 16th Knesset (2003–2006) Members of the 17th Knesset (2006–2009) Members of the 18th Knesset (2009–2013) Ministers of Environment of Israel Ministers of Public Security of Israel Ministers of Tourism of Israel People from Jerusalem People of the Shin Bet Place of death missing University of Haifa alumni