Michael Mordecai Biton ( he, מִיכָאֵל מָרְדְּכַי בִּיטוֹן, born 3 February 1970) is an Israeli politician. He formerly served as Minister of Strategic Affairs and as minister for civic issues within the

Ministry of Defense {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

. He was previously mayor of

Yeruham Yeruham ( he, יְרוֹחַם, ''Yeroham'') is a town ( local council) in the Southern District of Israel, in the Negev desert. It covers 38,584 dunams (~38.6 km²), and had a population of in . It is named after the Biblical Jeroham. Un ...

between 2010 and 2018.

Biography

Biton was born in Yeruham to parents who had immigrated 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 ...

. He gained a BA in behavioral studies and Hebrew literature from

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) ( he, אוניברסיטת בן-גוריון בנגב, ''Universitat Ben-Guriyon baNegev'') is a public research university in Beersheba, Israel. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has five campuses: the ...

and an MA in organizational leadership from the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

. He also studied English at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

and worked as an au pair in the US. After his studies he was head of a community center in Yeruham, managed the

Jewish Agency The Jewish Agency for Israel ( he, הסוכנות היהודית לארץ ישראל, translit=HaSochnut HaYehudit L'Eretz Yisra'el) formerly known as The Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. ...

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. ...

District, and founded the nonprofit organisation Youth of Yeruham. He was elected mayor of

as a

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 ...

candidate in November 2010 with 44% of the vote. In 2014 he was re-elected with 70% of the vote. He later joined the Labor Party, and was a leader of the national "Equality March" which started in Yeruham. In 2015 he was runner-up in the vote to become the head of the Israeli branch of the

Jewish National Fund Jewish National Fund ( he, קֶרֶן קַיֶּימֶת לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, ''Keren Kayemet LeYisrael'', previously , ''Ha Fund HaLeumi'') was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Syria (later Mandatory Palestine, and subseq ...

, 238 votes behind the victor, Labor MK

Danny Atar Daniel "Danny" Atar ( he, דניאל "דני" עטר, born 5 January 1958) is an Israeli politician. Biography Daniel Atar was born in Afula, Israel, to Jewish parents who had immigrated from Morocco in 1956. During his IDF national service he s ...

. In the buildup to the April 2019 Knesset elections he worked with

Adina Bar-Shalom Adina Bar-Shalom (Hebrew: עדינה בר-שלום; born 1945) is an Israeli educator, columnist, and social activist. She is the founder of the first college for Haredi Judaism, Haredi students in Jerusalem, and has spent years working to overcom ...

to form a new political party called Ahi Yisraeli. However, he left the party due to a leadership dispute with Bar-Shalom. He subsequently joined the new

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. The ...

, which became part of the Blue and White alliance for the elections. Biton was elected to the Knesset on its list, and re-elected in the September 2019 and 2020 elections. In May 2020 he was appointed Minister in the Ministry of Defense in the new government. He subsequently resigned his Knesset seat under the Norwegian Law and was replaced by Tehila Friedman. He was re-elected to the Knesset in the March 2021 elections.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Biton, Michael 1970 births Living people People from Yeruham Ben-Gurion University of the Negev alumni Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni Kadima politicians Mayors of places in Israel Israeli Labor Party politicians Israel Resilience Party politicians Blue and White (political alliance) politicians 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–) Yale University alumni Government ministers of Israel Israeli people of Moroccan-Jewish descent Jewish Israeli politicians