Yona Yahav ( he, יונה יהב, born 19 June 1944) is an Israeli lawyer and politician. He was formerly 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 the Labor Party. Yahav was the mayor of

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

between 2003 and 2018. In the 2018 Haifa mayoral election, he lost to

Einat Kalisch-Rotem Einat Kalisch-Rotem ( he, עינת קליש-רותם; born 3 September 1970) is an Israeli urban planner and politician serving as mayor of Haifa since 2018. She is the first female mayor to lead any of the three major cities in Israel. Caree ...

Biography

Yahav was born in

during the period of the Mandate era. During his national service he reached the rank of

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

in the Military Police Corps of 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 studied law at 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 ...

, gaining a

LL.B Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

, before continuing his legal studies at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

, where he served as secretary-general of the

World Union of Jewish Students The World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS ) (Hebrew: ההתאחדות העולמית של הסטודנטים היהודים; French: L’Union Mondiale des Etudiants Juifs; Spanish: Unión Mundial de Estudiantes Judíos; Russian: Всемирный ...

. When he returned to Israel, Yahav became active in politics. He was an advisor to

Minister of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government agen ...

Gad Yaacobi Gad Yaacobi ( he, גד יעקבי, 18 January 1935 – 27 August 2007) was an Israeli Minister, Alignment Knesset member, and Israel Ambassador to the United Nations. Biography Yaacobi was born in Kfar Vitkin during Mandate era, where he compl ...

and the spokesman of

Teddy Kollek Theodor "Teddy" Kollek ( he, טדי קולק; 27 May 1911 – 2 January 2007) was an Israeli politician who served as the mayor of Jerusalem from 1965 to 1993, and founder of the Jerusalem Foundation. Kollek was re-elected five times, in 1969, 197 ...

, mayor of

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

. In

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

he was elected to the Knesset on the Labor Party list, and served as the chairman of the subcommittee for banking. However, he lost his seat in the

1999 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1999. * 1999 electoral calendar Africa * 1999 Algerian presidential election * 1999 Botswana general election * 1999 Beninese parliamentary election * 1999 Central African Republic presidential elect ...

. Yahav later left Labour and joined

Shinui Shinui ( he, שִׁינּוּי, lit. ''Change'') was a Zionist, secular, and anti-clerical free market liberal party and political movement in Israel. The party twice became the third-largest in the Knesset, but both occasions were followed by a ...

. In 2003, he was elected mayor of Haifa on a joint

- Greens ticket, having already served as deputy mayor. On 29 June 2006 he defected to

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 ...

, but remained mayor of the city. He is also chairman of the Haifa Economic Corporation and previously chaired the Haifa International Film Festival organisation and the city's theatre executive.

Published works

*''The Anatomy of the Fall of the Labor Party'' with

Shevah Weiss Shevah Weiss ( he, שבח וייס; born 5 July 1935), is an Israeli political scientist and former politician. Biography Weiss was born in Borysław, Poland (since 1945 Boryslav, Ukraine) into a Polish Jewish family to Gienia and Meir Wolf Wei ...

(1977) *''Libel and Slander'' (1987, updated and re-released in 1996)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yahav, Yona 1944 births People from Haifa Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Law alumni Alumni of the University of London Israeli lawyers Deputy Mayors of Haifa Mayors of Haifa Living people Israeli Labor Party politicians Shinui politicians The Greens (Israel) politicians Kadima politicians Jews in Mandatory Palestine Members of the 14th Knesset (1996–1999)