Dr Binyamin "Benny" Temkin ( he, בנימין טמקין, born 7 March 1945) is an Israeli former politician 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

Meretz Meretz ( he, מֶרֶצ, ) is a left-wing political party in Israel. The party was formed in 1992 by the merger of Ratz, Mapam and Shinui, and was at its peak between 1992 and 1996 when it had 12 seats. It currently has no seats in the Knesset ...

between 1992 and 1996.

Biography

Born in

Monterrey Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

in 1945, he studied his BA in Economics at the

University of Nuevo León A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

, and participated in the leftist student movements of the 1960s. Temkin 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 1971. He was awarded an MA by 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 ...

and a PhD by

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, and published several papers on political science.Benjamin Temkin: Public Activities
Knesset website He began his political activism with left-wing groups at the Hebrew University, and was involved with

Moked Moked ( he, מוקד, lit. "Focus") was a left-wing political party in Israel. Background Moked came into existence during the seventh Knesset, when Maki (which had one seat, held by Shmuel Mikunis) merged with the Blue-Red Movement, which was ...

and the

Left Camp of Israel The Left Camp of Israel ( he, מחנה שמאל לישראל, ''Maḥaneh Smol LeYisrael'') was a Israeli left-wing politics, left-wing List of political parties in Israel, political party in Israel. It was also known as Sheli ( he, של"י), an ...

, before joining Ratz. He chaired its council between 1985 and 1989. From 1989 until 1992 he was the Ratz party's Secretary General, and 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 ...

was elected to the Knesset on the Meretz list (then an alliance of Ratz,

Mapam Mapam ( he, מַפָּ״ם, an acronym for , ) was a left-wing political party in Israel. The party is one of the ancestors of the modern-day Meretz party. History Mapam was formed by a January 1948 merger of the kibbutz-based Hashomer Hatz ...

and Shinui). He chaired the Subcommittee on Distressed Youth and the Parliamentary Inquiry Committee on Violence Among Youth, before losing his seat in the 1996 elections. From 1996 to 1999 he was Secretary General of the Meretz party. After failing to be re-elected in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, he returned to Mexico to work as an academic. He was due to replace

Amnon Rubinstein Amnon Rubinstein ( he, אמנון רובינשטיין, born 5 September 1931) is an Israeli legal scholar, politician, and columnist. A member of the Knesset between 1977 and 2002, he served in several ministerial positions. He is currently dean ...

after he resigned from the Knesset in 2002, but turned it down, with Uzi Even taking the place instead. At present, Temkin is a professor and researcher at the

Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales The Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences ( es, Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales, pt, Faculdade Latino-Americana de Ciências Sociais or FLACSO) is a graduate-only university and inter-governmental autonomous organization for La ...

(FLACSO) in Mexico. He was the Editor of the journal Perfiles Latinoamericanos and is the Director of a Masters Program in Environmental and Energy Policy and Management at FLACSO-Mexico

References

External links

*
Benjamin Temkin
ResearchGate {{DEFAULTSORT:Temkin, Benjamin 1945 births Living people Politicians from Monterrey Mexican Jews Mexican emigrants to Israel Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Social Sciences alumni Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Israeli Jews Israeli political scientists Israeli people of Mexican-Jewish descent Members of the 13th Knesset (1992–1996) Meretz politicians Ratz (political party) politicians Left Camp of Israel politicians Moked politicians Autonomous University of Nuevo León alumni