Nino Abesadze ( he, נינו אבסדזה; ka, ნინო აბესაძე, born 12 April 1965) is an Israeli politician and journalist who 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

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 2009 and 2013.

Biography

Born in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

(today in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

) to a Georgian Christian father and Russian-Jewish mother, Abesadze graduated from the Film School at the Open University of Georgia, before studying for degrees in Russian literature and linguistics at

Tbilisi State University Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University ( ka, ივანე ჯავახიშვილის სახელობის თბილისის სახელმწიფო უნივერსიტეტი ''Ivane Javaxishvi ...

. At the age of 23 she began working for Georgian State Television, becoming the presenter of the evening news two years later. Her mother and three sisters had

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 after her father died in 1980, settling in

Rehovot Rehovot ( he, רְחוֹבוֹת ''Rəḥōvōt'', ar, رحوڤوت ''Reḥūfūt'') is a city in the Central District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. In it had a population of . Etymology Israel Belkind, founder of the Bilu movement, ...

, and later

Ashdod Ashdod ( he, ''ʾašdōḏ''; ar, أسدود or إسدود ''ʾisdūd'' or '' ʾasdūd'' ; Philistine: 𐤀𐤔𐤃𐤃 *''ʾašdūd'') is the sixth-largest city in Israel. Located in the country's Southern District, it lies on the Mediterran ...

. Abesadze remained in Georgia, and in the 1990s began a relationship with Baruch Ben-Neria, the Israeli ambassador to Georgia and

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

from 1993 until 1996. She moved to Israel in 1996 and worked on

Russian language Russian (russian: русский язык, russkij jazyk, link=no, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the First language, native language of the Russians, and belongs to the Indo-European langua ...

programmes for Channel 33, before joining a Russian language newspaper. A member of Kadima, she was on the party's list for the 2009 Knesset elections, but was not high enough on the list to win a seat. However, she entered the Knesset on 9 November 2010 as a replacement for

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 ...

, who had been convicted of a crime (

perjury Perjury (also known as foreswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an inst ...

) deemed to be of

moral turpitude Moral turpitude is a legal concept in the United States and prior to 1976, Canada, that refers to "an act or behavior that gravely violates the sentiment or accepted standard of the community". This term appears in U.S. immigration law beginning ...

, thereby losing his seat. Shortly before the 2013 elections Abesadze left Kadima to join the Labor Party. She was placed 19th on the Labor Party list,Labor Party
Central Elections Committee but lost her seat when the party won only 15 seats. She lives in

Kokhav Ya'ir Kokhav Ya'ir–Tzur Yig'al ( he, כּוֹכַב יָאִיר-צוּר יִגְאָל, also Kochav Yair–Tzur Yigal) is a town ( local council) in the Central District of Israel. Kokhav Ya'ir and the neighboring town of Tzur Yig'al ( he, צוּר ...

with her boyfriend and their two children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abesadze, Nino 1965 births Georgian emigrants to Israel 20th-century Israeli Jews 21st-century Israeli Jews Israeli women journalists Jews from Georgia (country) Israeli people of Georgian descent Israeli people of Russian-Jewish descent Journalists from Tbilisi Members of the 18th Knesset (2009–2013) Kadima politicians Israeli Labor Party politicians Women members of the Knesset Living people LGBT rights activists from Israel Soviet Jews Tbilisi State University alumni 21st-century Israeli women politicians Television people from Georgia (country)