Yosef "Yossi" Yona ( he, יוסף "יוסי" יונה, born 8 June 1953) is an Israeli academic and politician. He served as a member of the Knesset for the Labor Party between 2015 and 2019.

Biography

Yona was born in the

ma'abara Ma'abarot ( he, מַעְבָּרוֹת) were immigrant and refugee absorption camps established in Israel in the 1950s, constituting one of the largest public projects planned by the state to implement its sociospatial and housing policies. ...

Kiryat Ata Kiryat Ata ( he, קִרְיַת אָתָא; also Qiryat Ata) is a city in the Haifa District of Israel. In it had a population of , 92% of whom were Jewish citizens. History The Early Bronze Age site at Qiryat Ata has been extensively excavate ...

. His parents Salman and Sabrina had

immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

from

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

and he was one of six children. He attended the

Nahum Sokolow Nahum ben Joseph Samuel Sokolow ( he, נחום ט' סוקולוב ''Nachum ben Yosef Shmuel Soqolov'', yi, סאָקאָלאָוו; ) was a Zionist leader, author, translator, and a pioneer of Hebrew journalism. Biography Nahum Sokolow was bor ...

high school in Kiryat Ata. In 1971 he started his

IDF IDF or idf may refer to: Defence forces * Irish Defence Forces * Israel Defense Forces *Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006 * Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917 Organizations * Israeli Diving Federation * Interac ...

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

and fought in Sinai during the

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 E ...

. After leaving the army in 1974, he obtained a

Bagrut Te'udat Bagrut (, ''lit.'' "maturity certificate", Arabic: شهادة بجروت) is a certificate that attests that a student has successfully passed Israel's high school matriculation examination. Bagrut is a prerequisite for higher education ...

matriculation certificate and attended 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 ...

, studying philosophy, history and art. Whilst at university he joined the Left Camp of Israel party. After graduating in 1979, he began studying for a PhD, graduating from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. He subsequently joined the Education Department at

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) ( he, אוניברסיטת בן-גוריון בנגב, ''Universitat Ben-Guriyon baNegev'') is a public research university in Beersheba, Israel. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has five campuses: the ...

. He went on to become a Professor of philosophy of education at Ben-Gurion University, and a senior research fellow at the

Van Leer Jerusalem Institute The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute (VLJI) is a center for the interdisciplinary study and discussion of issues related to philosophy, society, culture, and education. The Institute was established in to create a body of knowledge and discourseto ...

. He was amongst the founders of the

Mizrahi Democratic Rainbow Coalition {{Unreferenced, date=June 2017 The Mizrahi Democratic Rainbow Coalition ( he, הקשת הדמוקרטית המזרחית, ''HaKeshet HaDemocratit HaMizrahit'') is a social justice organization among Mizrahi Jews (Jews from Arab and Muslim lands and ...

, and one of the leaders of the

Geneva Initiative The Geneva Initiative, also known as the Geneva Accord, is a draft ''Permanent Status Agreement'' to end the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, based on previous official negotiations, international resolutions, the Quartet Roadmap, the Clinton Pa ...

. In 2012 he joined the Labor Party, and was placed 20th on the party's list for the 2013 Knesset elections. However, the party won only 15 seats and he did not become a Knesset member. He was placed 23rd on the

Zionist Union The Zionist Union ( he, הַמַחֲנֶה הַצִיּוֹנִי, translit. ''HaMaḥaneh HaẒiyoni'', lit. ''the Zionist Camp'') was a centre-left political alliance in Israel. It was established in December 2014 by the Israeli Labor Party ...

list (an alliance of Labor and

Hatnuah Hatnua ( he, הַתְּנוּעָה, lit=''The Movement'') was a liberal political party in Israel formed by former Israeli Foreign Minister and Vice Prime Minister Tzipi Livni to present an alternative to voters frustrated by the stalemate in ...

) for the 2015 Knesset elections, and was elected to the Knesset as the alliance won 24 seats.Final Unofficial* results of the Elections for the Twentieth Knesset
Central Elections Committee He did not contest the April 2019 elections. After leaving the Knesset, he published three books; two novels and a non-fiction book about politics in art. One of the novels was translated into English and was published in 2021 under the title ''Tel Aviv Ramallah''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yona, Yossi 1953 births Living people Academic staff of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Israeli Labor Party politicians Zionist Union politicians Israeli people of Iraqi-Jewish descent Jewish Israeli politicians Members of the 20th Knesset (2015–2019) People from Kiryat Ata University of Haifa alumni University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences alumni