Itamar Shimoni ( he, איתמר שמעוני; born 1968) is an Israeli politician. He was the mayor of

Ashkelon Ashkelon or Ashqelon (; Hebrew: , , ; Philistine: ), also known as Ascalon (; Ancient Greek: , ; Arabic: , ), is a coastal city in the Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with ...

from 2013 to 2017.

Biography

Itamar Shimoni earned a B.A. in Business Administration, Engineering in Industrial Management. He has three children.

Business career

Shimon was CEO of Atarim, Creative Manager at

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (also known as Teva Pharmaceuticals) is an Israeli multinational pharmaceutical company with headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israel. It specializes primarily in generic drugs, but other business interests include ...

, and CEO of Dasco, an Israeli furniture manufacturer.

Political career

In October 2013, Shimoni became mayor of Ashkelon when he defeated the incumbent, Benny Vaknin, who had served four terms. In his war on organized crime in the city, he ordered the closure of a restaurant owned by crime boss Shalom Domrani's family. In November 2013, he evacuated Ashkelon schools found to have high levels of radiation. In November 2014, Shimoni announced that Arab construction workers would be banned from projects on the grounds of Israeli schools and kindergartens. This was in response to the 2014 Jerusalem synagogue massacre earlier that week, where two Palestinians from East Jerusalem killed four Jews and a Druze policeman. Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...

and MKs denounced the ban, which they said was racist and illegal. Economy Minister

Naftali Bennett Naftali Bennett ( he, נַפְתָּלִי בֶּנֶט, Transliterated: , ; born 25 March 1972) is an Israeli politician who served as the 13th prime minister of Israel from 13 June 2021 to 30 June 2022, and as the 3rd Alternate Prime Minist ...

said he would work to overturn Shimoni's order. Attorney General

Yehuda Weinstein Yehuda Weinstein ( he, יהודה וינשטיין; born 19 April 1944) is an Israeli lawyer and former Attorney General of Israel, having replaced the previous attorney general, Menachem Mazuz, on 1 February 2010. Biography Weinstein was born ...

warned Shimoni against implementing his discriminatory plan, saying it would have serious legal ramifications. On the Sunday following his remarks, Shimoni said that he was trying to address concerns of parents, but would allow construction to continue, with children moved to a different venue until completion. Shimoni was arrested on 5 January 2016 on charges of bribery, breach of trust, money laundering and rape. In May 2016, he returned to City Hall. The sex crime allegations were dropped due to lack of evidence.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shimoni, Itamar 1968 births Living people Jewish Israeli politicians Jewish mayors Mayors of places in Israel People from Ashkelon