Zevulun Orlev
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Zevulun Orlev ( he, זבולון אורלב, born 9 November 1945) is an Israeli politician and a former
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 ...
member, Minister of Welfare & Social Services and leader of the
National Religious Party The National Religious Party ( he, מִפְלָגָה דָּתִית לְאֻומִּית, ''Miflaga Datit Leumit'', commonly known in Israel by its Hebrew acronym Mafdal, ) was a political party in Israel representing the religious Zionist moveme ...
. Orlev is a decorated
war hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''hero' ...
who received the
Medal of Distinguished Service The Medal of Distinguished Service ( he, עיטור המופת) is an Israeli military decorations, Israeli military decoration. The Medal of Distinguished Service is the third most important medal given by the IDF Chief of General Staff (Israel), ...
in 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 Egy ...
.


Biography

Zvulun Orlev was born in
Rehovot Rehovot ( he, רְחוֹבוֹת ''Rəḥōvōt'', ar, رحوڤوت ''Reḥūfūt'') is a city in the Central District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. In it had a population of . Etymology Israel Belkind, founder of the Bilu movement, ...
during the Mandate era. He studied humanities and social sciences at 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 then trained to be a teacher at Moreshet Yaakov College. Orlev lives in Jerusalem's
Givat Mordechai Givat Mordechai, ( he, גבעת מרדכי, trans: ''Mordechai's Hill'') is a Jewish neighborhood in southwest-central Jerusalem, midway between the neighborhoods of Nayot and Malcha. The neighborhood was named after an American philanthropist, ...
neighborhood with his wife, Nira. They have four children.


Military career

During his national 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 ...
, he reached the rank of Sergeant. Orlev fought in the
Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...
, participating in the capture of East Jerusalem. He sustained a knee injury and underwent rehabilitation for two years. 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 Egy ...
, Orlev served in a stronghold on the Bar-Lev Line. During the Egyptian attack on the first day of the war, Orlev took charge of the soldiers in his outpost after the commander was wounded. Under his command, his unit repelled Egyptian attempts to capture the position, and he organized the evacuation from the stronghold. For this, he was awarded a
Medal of Distinguished Service The Medal of Distinguished Service ( he, עיטור המופת) is an Israeli military decorations, Israeli military decoration. The Medal of Distinguished Service is the third most important medal given by the IDF Chief of General Staff (Israel), ...
. He later served as a reservist during the
1982 Lebanon War The 1982 Lebanon War, dubbed Operation Peace for Galilee ( he, מבצע שלום הגליל, or מבצע של"ג ''Mivtsa Shlom HaGalil'' or ''Mivtsa Sheleg'') by the Israeli government, later known in Israel as the Lebanon War or the First L ...
.


Public service

Orlev worked as Director General of the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Director General of the Ministry of Education and Culture.


Political career

He was first elected to the Knesset in the
1999 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1999. * 1999 electoral calendar Africa * 1999 Algerian presidential election * 1999 Botswana general election * 1999 Beninese parliamentary election * 1999 Central African Republic presidential elect ...
on the
National Religious Party The National Religious Party ( he, מִפְלָגָה דָּתִית לְאֻומִּית, ''Miflaga Datit Leumit'', commonly known in Israel by its Hebrew acronym Mafdal, ) was a political party in Israel representing the religious Zionist moveme ...
list. After being re-elected in the 2003 elections, Orlev was appointed Minister of Welfare and Social Services in
Ariel Sharon Ariel Sharon (; ; ; also known by his diminutive Arik, , born Ariel Scheinermann, ; 26 February 1928 – 11 January 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006. S ...
's government. During the crisis in the party over the Gaza disengagement plan, Orlev led the camp which believed staying in the government, rather than leaving the coalition, was the best option. In response, NRP leader
Effi Eitam Efraim "Effi" (Fine) Eitam ( he, אפרים "אפי" איתם, born 25 July 1952) is an Israeli brigadier general, former commander of the 91st Division, and a politician. A former leader of the National Religious Party, he later led a breakaway ...
called Orlev a "
Meimad Meimad ( he, מימד, an acronym for ''Medina Yehudit, Medina Demokratit'' (), lit., ''Jewish State, Democratic State'') is a moderate to left-wing religious Zionist political party in Israel. Founded in 1999, it is based on the ideology of the ...
nik". When Eitam and
Yitzhak Levy Yitzhak Levy ( he, יצחק לוי, born 6 July 1947) is an Israeli Orthodox rabbi and politician who served as a member of the Knesset for the National Religious Party (NRP) and the Ahi faction of the National Union between 1988 and 2009. Betwe ...
quit the government in 2004, Orlev and many NRP members refused to leave the coalition. Orlev then succeeded in taking control of the party, resulting in Eitam and Levy leaving to form the Renewed Religious National Zionist Party (later renamed Ahi), which would later join the National Union. Orlev was re-elected in the 2006 elections. Prior to 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 ...
the NRP was dissolved and its members joined
the Jewish Home The Jewish Home ( he, הַבַּיִת הַיְהוּדִי, HaBayit HaYehudi) is an Orthodox Jewish and religious Zionist political party in Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the ...
. Orlev won second place on the new party's list, and retained his seat in the subsequent elections. In 2009 Orlev sponsored a
Private member's bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in whi ...
that called for a years imprisonment for any person who denied Israel to be a Jewish and democratic state, a law that would have criminalized calls by members of the Arab minority for Israel to be a state for all its citizens. The bill was castigated as racist and discriminatory, and a media outcry following the bill passing its first reading in the Knesset led to the bill ultimately being defeated. The bill was criticized as an exercise in thought police and as being an assault on freedom of speech, and called "racist and fascist" by the
High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel The High Follow-Up Committee for Arab citizens of Israel ( he, ועדת המעקב העליונה של הציבור הערבי בישראל, ar, لجنة المتابعة العليا للجماهير العربية في إسرائيل, also, High ...
. The
Mossawa Center The Mossawa Center was established in 1997 as a civil society organization to promote equality for Arab citizens in Israel. In Arabic, "mossawa" means "equality". The organization works to promote the social, economic, cultural, and political righ ...
described the bill as "discriminatory and racist".
Uri Avnery Uri Avnery ( he, אורי אבנרי, also transliterated Uri Avneri; 10 September 1923 – 20 August 2018) was an Israeli writer, politician, and founder of the Gush Shalom peace movement. A member of the Irgun as a teenager, Avnery sat for two ...
placed the bill in the context as being one in a series of racist laws, writing that it "does not stand out at all in today’s political landscape", describing Orlev's Jewish Home party as "ultra-ultra-ultra racist" and trying to outdo the other right-wing parties. Orlev was criticized for proposing a bill that would mandate divorced fathers to pay child support until their children reached age 22, though he later retracted and stated he would not pursue the bill. In 2012, he called for the
Third Temple The "Third Temple" ( he, , , ) refers to a hypothetical rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem. It would succeed Solomon's Temple and the Second Temple, the former having been destroyed during the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in and the latter havin ...
to be built in Jerusalem, as well as legislation to protect the project from prosecution and the "hostile, secular, left-wing media". He also proposed a Private Members Bill to override an
Israeli Supreme Court The Supreme Court (, ''Beit HaMishpat HaElyon''; ar, المحكمة العليا) is the Supreme court, highest court in Israel. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all other courts, and in some cases original jurisdiction. The Supreme C ...
ruling ordering the demolition five buildings in an
Israeli settlement Israeli settlements, or Israeli colonies, are civilian communities inhabited by Israeli citizens, overwhelmingly of Jewish ethnicity, built on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. The international community considers Israeli se ...
. Orlev announced that he would retire from politics after he ran unsuccessfully in the
2012 The Jewish Home leadership election The 2012 The Jewish Home leadership election was held on 5 November 2012 to elect the leader of The Jewish Home party. The election took place in advance of the 2013 Israeli legislative election. Naftali Bennett was elected as leader, defeating ...
. Orlev did not run in the 2013 elections. He is a co-president of the international Mizrachi movement, which the National Religious Party and its successor Jewish Home represents in the political arena.World Mizrachi Movement Office Bearers


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Orlev, Zevulun 1945 births Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni Israeli civil servants Living people Israeli Orthodox Jews National Religious Party leaders People from Rehovot Religious Zionism Recipients of the Medal of Distinguished Service The Jewish Home politicians Members of the 15th Knesset (1999–2003) Members of the 16th Knesset (2003–2006) Members of the 17th Knesset (2006–2009) Members of the 18th Knesset (2009–2013)