Ya'akov Margi ( he, יַעֲקֹב מַרְגִּי, born 18 November 1960) is an Israeli politician who currently serves 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

Shas Shas ( he, ש״ס) is a Haredi religious political party in Israel. Founded in 1984 under the leadership of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, a former Israeli Sephardi chief rabbi, who remained its spiritual leader until his death in October 2013, it primarily ...

Biography

Margi was born in Rabat in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

and brought to

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 ...

during

Operation Yachin Operation Yakhin was an operation to secretly emigrate Moroccan Jews to Israel, conducted by Israel's Mossad between November 1961 and spring 1964. About 97,000 left for Israel by plane and ship from Casablanca and Tangier via France and Italy. ...

in 1962. Between 1993 and 2003, he served as chairman of the local religious council in

Beersheba Beersheba or Beer Sheva, officially Be'er-Sheva ( he, בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, ''Bəʾēr Ševaʿ'', ; ar, بئر السبع, Biʾr as-Sabʿ, Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven), is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. ...

. Since 2001, he has been the director general of

. He was first elected to the Knesset in 2003. After retaining his seat in the

2006 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2006. * Elections in 2006 * Electoral calendar 2006 * 2006 Acehnese regional election * 2006 American Samoan legislative election * 2006 Bahraini parliamentary election * 2006 Costa Rican president ...

, Margi served as group chairperson of the party's faction at the Knesset. He also served briefly as chairman of the House Committee. He retained his seat again in the

2009 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2009. * Electoral calendar 2009 * 2009 United Nations Security Council election Caribbean * 2009 Antiguan general election * 2009 Aruban general election * 2009 Caymanian constitutional referendu ...

, having been placed sixth on the Shas list, and was appointed Minister of Religious Services in the Netanyahu government. Margi lives in Sde Tzvi, a moshav in Southern Israel. He is married, and a father of two. During Pope

Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...

's visit to Israel, he wrote a letter to the pontiff demanding that he clearly condemn the purveyors of Holocaust denial and antisemitism.Israel demands Pope Benedict XVI condemn Holocaust deniers
The Telegraph, 8 May 2009

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Margi, Yakov 1960 births Living people Deputy Speakers of the Knesset Government ministers of Israel Israeli Orthodox Jews Israeli people of Moroccan-Jewish descent Jewish Israeli politicians Members of the 16th Knesset (2003–2006) Members of the 17th Knesset (2006–2009) Members of the 18th Knesset (2009–2013) Members of the 19th Knesset (2013–2015) Members of the 20th Knesset (2015–2019) Members of the 21st Knesset (2019) Members of the 22nd Knesset (2019–2020) Members of the 23rd Knesset (2020–2021) Members of the 24th Knesset (2021–2022) Members of the 25th Knesset (2022–) Moroccan emigrants to Israel 20th-century Moroccan Jews People from Rabat Shas politicians