Yitzhak Aharonovich ( he, יצחק אהרונוביץ', born 22 August 1950) is an Israeli businessman and former politician. He 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

Yisrael Beiteinu Yisrael Beiteinu ( he, יִשְׂרָאֵל בֵּיתֵנוּ, russian: Наш Дом Израиль, lit. ''Israel Our Home'') is a secularist, nationalist right-wing political party in Israel. The party's base was originally secular Russia ...

between 2006 and 2015, and also held the posts of

Minister of Tourism The Minister of Tourism is the head of the governmental department that specializes in tourism, recreation and/or culture. The position exists in many different countries under several names: *Ministry of Tourism and Environment (Albania) * Minist ...

and Minister of Public Security. He is currently Chairman of

IMI Systems , former_name = Israel Military Industries , type = State-owned enterprise , industry = Arms industry , fate = Acquired by Elbit Systems , successor = Elbit Systems Land , founded = , founder = , defunct = , hq_location_city = Ramat H ...

Biography

Yitzhak Aharonivich was born in

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

Holocaust survivors Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and Axis powers, its allies before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no unive ...

from

Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...

. He grew up in

moshav A moshav ( he, מוֹשָׁב, plural ', lit. ''settlement, village'') is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 an ...

Dishon and studied at a

yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are s ...

Safed Safed (known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as Tzfat; Sephardi Hebrew, Sephardic Hebrew & Modern Hebrew: צְפַת ''Tsfat'', Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation, Ashkenazi Hebrew: ''Tzfas'', Biblical Hebrew: ''Ṣǝp̄aṯ''; ar, صفد, ''Ṣafad''), i ...

. In 1968, he began his mandatory 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 ...

, and served as a deputy company commander and instructor at a training base. He later studied history at the

University of Haifa The University of Haifa ( he, אוניברסיטת חיפה Arabic: جامعة حيفا) is a university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation in 1972, becoming Is ...

and graduated with a BA. In 1972, he joined the

Israel Border Police The Israel Border Police ( he, מִשְׁמַר הַגְּבוּל, Mišmar Ha-Gvul) is the gendarmerie and border security branch of the Israel National Police. It is also commonly known by its Hebrew abbreviation Magav (), meaning border gua ...

, and during the 1973

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egy ...

he was stationed on the border with

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

. Aharonovich lives in

Even Yehuda Even Yehuda ( he, אֶבֶן יְהוּדָה) is a town in the central Sharon region of Israel east of Netanya. In it had a population of . History The area of Even Yehuda has been inhabited intermittently since the Middle Paleolithic age, wit ...

with his family.

Military and police career

In the 1980s he headed the northern command of the Israel Border Police, and led rescue operations during the two

Tyre catastrophe Tyre most often refers to: * Tire, the outer part of a wheel * Tyre, Lebanon, a Mediterranean city Tyre or Tyres may also refer to: Other places Lebanon * Tyre District * See of Tyre, a Christian diocese *Tyre Hippodrome, a UNESCO World Heritag ...

s. He continued to rise through the ranks, and in 1993 he was promoted to Major General and appointed commander of the Border Police. He later served as a representative of the

Israel Police The Israel Police ( he, משטרת ישראל, ''Mišteret Yisra'el''; ar, شرطة إسرائيل, ''Shurtat Isrāʼīl'') is the civilian police force of Israel. As with most other police forces in the world, its duties include crime fightin ...

in the Americas for two years. In 1998 was appointed head of police in the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

, and became head of the Southern District police in 2001. From 2002 to 2004 he was deputy police commissioner. In 2004, he left the police, and served as director-general of the

Dan Bus Company Dan Bus Company ( he, דן חברה לתחבורה ציבורית) is an Israeli bus company based in Tel Aviv. It operates local bus service in the Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area (Gush Dan) as well as some intercity bus services between the Gush Dan ...

from 2004 to 2005.

Political career

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

he was elected to the Knesset on Yisrael Beiteinu's list. In March 2007, he was appointed Minister of Tourism, but his tenure ended in January 2008 when the party left

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 ...

's coalition government. He retained his seat 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 ...

, for which he was placed fourth on the party's list. Upon the formation of the Netanyahu government on 31 March 2009, he was appointed Minister of Public Security. On 16 June 2009, Aharonovich attracted controversy over a comment he made during a meeting with an undercover police detective in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

's Central Bus Station. After the detective apologized for being untidy while meeting Aharonovich, Aharonovich replied that he looked as dirty as an "Araboosh" a Hebrew slur roughly translating as "dirty Arab". He was denounced by several members of the Knesset as a racist following that, and subsequently apologized. He was praised for his actions during the Mount Carmel forest fire. He was re-elected in the 2013 elections, and retained his post as Minister of Public Security. In January 2015 he announced that he was retiring from politics, and would not contest the

2015 elections The following elections were scheduled to occur in the year 2015. Africa * 2015 Beninese parliamentary election 26 April 2015 * 2015 Burkinabé general election 29 November 2015 * 2015 Burundian legislative election 29 June 2015 * 2015 Burun ...

. and in November 2016 he became chairman of IMI Systems Ltd.Liberman to appoint party members as IAI, IMI chairs
Globes, 7 July 2016

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aharonovich, Yitzhak 1950 births Living people Israeli Jews Israeli people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Israeli police officers Jewish Israeli politicians Members of the 17th Knesset (2006–2009) Members of the 18th Knesset (2009–2013) Members of the 19th Knesset (2013–2015) Ministers of Public Security of Israel Ministers of Tourism of Israel Moshavniks Politicians from Jerusalem University of Haifa alumni Yisrael Beiteinu politicians Businesspeople from Jerusalem