Israeli minister to talk in Australia
Those who can’t wait for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit in February won’t want to miss Minister Tzachi Hanegbi’s public talks in Melbourne and Sydney.
Tzachi Hanegbi
Hanegbi, who is Minister without portfolio in the Prime Minister’s office with special responsibilities for national security and foreign affairs, will speak on the topic “Israel’s expanding regional and international horizons”.
“This is a unique opportunity to hear from a senior Israeli politician, who has the ear of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Israel’s position in the region,” Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) executive director Colin Rubenstein said.
Tzachi Hanegbi was appointed as an adviser to then Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir in 1984, and in 1986 was made head of Prime Minister Shamir’s bureau. He was elected for the first time as a member of the Knesset for the Likud Party in 1988 and served in the Israeli parliament for 22 consecutive years until December 2010. From 1992-1996 he chaired the economic committee.
In 1996 Hanegbi was appointed Minister of Health in Benjamin Netanyahu’s first government and was later appointed Minister of Justice. In 2001 he was appointed Minister of the Environment in Ariel Sharon’s government and for a few months also held the position of Minister of Transportation. In 2003 he was appointed Minister of Public Security, and in September 2004 appointed by Sharon to be a Minister in the Prime Minister’s office in charge of Israel’s intelligence services and the strategic dialogue between Israel and the United States. In November 2005 he led Israel’s delegation to Washington DC for strategic discussions with the US administration on the region’s political and security issues.
In 2006 Hanegbi was appointed Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense committee, a role he filled until December 2010. In January 2012 Hanegbi was elected a Member of the 19th Knesset for the Likud party, and Chaired the House Committee, the Defense Budget Committee and the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. In June 2014 he was appointed as the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. In June 2015, following Israel general elections, he was appointed Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Chairman of the ruling party Likud faction and Chairman of PM Netanyahu’s coalition. In May 2016 he was appointed to be a Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office.
Hanegbi served as a paratrooper in the Israel Defense forces and has a BA in international relations from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. In 1994 he received his LLB from the Law School of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and was accepted into the Israeli Bar Association.
The Melbourne talk, which is being held by AIJAC in conjunction with Australian Friends of Likud, Zionism Victoria and the Zionist Federation of Australia, is on Wednesday, November 23 at Caulfield Hebrew Congregation at 7:30pm. Admission is $8 ($5 concession).
The Sydney talk, which is being held by AIJAC in conjunction with Australian Friends of Likud, the Zionist Council of NSW and UIA, is on Thursday, December 1 at Central Synagogue at 7:30pm. Admission is $10 ($5 concession).
