Tzachi Hanegbi

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Tzachi Hanegbi

Tzachi Hanegbi (Hebrew: צחי הנגבי) (born February 26, 1957) is an Israeli politician. He was the acting Chairman of the Likud party after Ariel Sharon left the party but has since left it himself. He is former Minister of Justice, Health, the Environment, Transport, Internal Security, Minister without protfolio, Minister of Jerusalem Issues, Society and Diaspora, Minister of Strategic Issues, and former Minister in the Prime Minister's Office in-charge of Religions, Arab Concerns, and Regional Cooperation.

Tzahi Hanegbi was born in Jerusalem. His mother was Geula Cohen, a prominent member of the 1940s underground group Lehi and later a politician. He is a married father of four children. Hanegbi studied international relations at Hebrew University and earned a law degree from Tel Aviv University. Hanegbi joined the Knesset in 1988; he has been a member of the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, as well as the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, and was Head of the Economics Committee in rotation in the 13th assembly of the Knesset. Earlier, he was national chairman of the Student Union. He was head of the Prime Minister's Bureau under Yitzhak Shamir.

In 1980, Hanegbi received a six-month suspended sentence for leading a chain-wielding attack on Arab students at Jerusalem's Hebrew University, where he was student union chairman.

Until August 30, 2004, Hanegbi was Minister of Internal Security ( השר לבטחון פנים ) which oversee the Israeli Police. He resigned from the position when a criminal investigation began into allegations of illegal political appointments. [1]. Hanegbi remained minister without portfolio, and was later assigned the Ministry of Jerusalem and Diaspora. In November 2005, Hanegbi was appointed interim chairman of the Likud party, following Ariel Sharon's secession to his new Kadima party. On December 6, 2005, the police decided to suggest his indictment to the attorney general's office. On the following day, Hanegby announced leaving Likud and supporting Sharon and Kadima.

On August 16, Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz decided to indict Hanegbi for political appointments (charges include fraud, bribery and perjury). Hanegbi, chair of the Knesset's powerful Foreign Security Committee, said that he will not seek parliamentary immunity. ^[2]

[edit] Quotes

"As far as I'm concerned, they can strike for a day, a month, until death." - Said in reference to Palestinian prisoners announcing a hunger strike.
"We have switched from defense to offense and in this battle all the members of the Hamas leadership are legitimate targets," — Public radio, Tuesday March 23, 2004.
"Where there is a fence, there is no terror. Where there's no fence, there is terror." — August 31, 2004, on public radio after the twin suicide bombings in Beer Sheva

"In his actions was a crude trampling of the law and of proper administrative rules, politicization of the public service, and the use of public resources to advance personal and political interests". — Israeli State Comptroller and Judge Eliezer Goldberg on Tzachi Hanegbi in his annual report, published September 24, 2004.