Yaron Zelekha ( he, ירון זליכה, born 20 July 1970) is an Israeli economist and political figure who heads the

New Economic Party The New Economic Party (; ''HaMiflagah HaKalkalit HaHadasha'') is a socio-economic political party in Israel founded by the economist and former Israeli Ministry of Finance accountant general, Yaron Zelekha, in December 2020. History In Dece ...

Biography

Zelekha was born to

Iraqi-Jewish The history of the Jews in Iraq ( he, יְהוּדִים בָּבְלִים, ', ; ar, اليهود العراقيون, ) is documented from the time of the Babylonian captivity c. 586 BC. Iraqi Jews constitute one of the world's oldest and mos ...

immigrants and grew up in Ramat Gan. His father was a branch manager for

Bank Leumi Bank Leumi ( he, בנק לאומי, lit. ''National Bank''; ar, بنك لئومي) is an Israeli bank. It was founded on February 27, 1902, in Jaffa as the ''Anglo Palestine Company'' as subsidiary of the Jewish Colonial Trust (Jüdische Kolonia ...

. After completing high school, Zelekha did his military service in the

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

in the

Research Department Research is " creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness ...

of the Military Intelligence Directorate. After being released from military service in 1991, he studied economics at Bar-Ilan University, earning a bachelor's degree in 1994. He earned a doctorate in economics from Bar-Ilan University in 2001. Zelekha is married to Orly and has three children.

Accounting and academic career

He subsequently worked as an accountant. From 1995 to 1997, he was a lecturer in accounting at the

College of Management Academic Studies The College of Management Academic Studies, a college located in the city of Rishon LeZion, Israel, is the largest college in Israel. Founded in 1978, COLMAN is the first non-subsidized, not-for-profit research academic institution in Israel to ...

. He entered public service in 1996 as an economist for the Prime Minister's Office and was appointed head of the Accounting Department at Ono Academic College in 1998. Zelekha was an Israeli Ministry of Finance accountant general during 2003–2007. He was a key witness, according to state comptroller's office, who testified against

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 his role of finance minister in a case of alleged bribery during the sale of the

's controlling shares. Zelekha said that the

State of Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

is more corrupt than it appears. In 2011, Zelekha was chosen to head a committee for examining centralization in the private vehicle market in Israel.

Political career

In December 2020, Zelekha formed the

based on an economic vision and said he would run as a candidate in the March 2021 national election in Israel. The New Economic Party did not win any seats in the election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zelekha, Yaron 1970 births Living people Israeli economists Israeli civil servants Israeli people of Iraqi-Jewish descent Bar-Ilan University alumni Academic staff of Ono Academic College