Ovadia Eli ( he, עובדיה עלי, born 22 May 1945) is an Israeli former politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Likud from 1984 until 1996, Deputy

Minister of Defense A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

between 1991 and 1992, and mayor of Afula from 1978 until 1991. Since leaving the Knesset, he has headed several government-owned companies, and is currently the CEO of the Israel Airports Authority.

Life and politics

Born in Khanaqin in Iraq in 1945, Eli made

aliyah Aliyah (, ; he, עֲלִיָּה ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel, which is in the modern era chiefly represented by the Israel, State of Israel ...

to Israel in 1950. He studied at the Lifschitz Seminar for Education, and received a BA from the University of Haifa, after which he worked as a teacher. He later became head of the school system in the north of the country. A member of Herut, he was elected mayor of Afula in 1978, a position he held until 1991. He was elected to the Knesset on the Likud list (then an alliance of Herut and other right-wing parties) in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

. He was re-elected in

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

, and was appointed Deputy Speaker. On 8 July 1991 he was also appointed Deputy Defense Minister.Twelfth Knesset: Government 24
Knesset website During the Knesset term Eli chaired the Special Committee for Amending the Galilee Law and the Committee on Drug Abuse. He was re-elected again in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

and remained a Deputy Speaker until losing his seat in the

1996 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1996. * 1995–1996 Azerbaijani parliamentary election * 1996 Beninese presidential election * 1996 Comorian presidential election * 1996 New Zealand general election * 1996 Nicaraguan general electio ...

(despite finishing 18th in the Likud primaries, he was assigned an unrealistic place on the party list). After leaving the Knesset, he was appointed CEO of Oil Refineries Ltd by Minister of National Infrastructure,

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 ...

. In April 2005 he was appointed CEO of

Israel Military Industries , former_name = Israel Military Industries , type = State-owned enterprise , industry = Arms industry , fate = Acquired by Elbit Systems , successor = Elbit Systems Land , founded = , founder = , defunct = , hq_location_city = Ramat ...

by Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, but resigned in June 2006. In October that year, he became CEO of the Israel Airports Authority. In addition to political activities, Eli was also a member of the board of the Jewish Agency for Israel and a member of the

Amidar ''Amidar'' is a video game developed by Konami and released in arcades in 1981 by Stern. The format is similar to that of ''Pac-Man'': the player moves around a fixed rectilinear lattice, attempting to visit each location on the board while a ...

housing company's directorate.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eli, Ovadia 1945 births People from Khanaqin Iraqi Jews Iraqi emigrants to Israel University of Haifa alumni Israeli educators Israeli civil servants Mayors of places in Israel Living people Likud politicians Herut politicians Members of the 11th Knesset (1984–1988) Members of the 12th Knesset (1988–1992) Members of the 13th Knesset (1992–1996) Deputy ministers of Israel