Dalia Itzik

Dalia Itzik
Date of birth 20 October 1952(1952-10-20)
Place of birth Jerusalem
Knessets 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th,
17th, 18th
Party Kadima
Former parties Labor Party, One Israel
Ministerial posts
(current in bold)		 Minister of the Environment
Minister of Industry & Trade
Minister of Communications

Dalia Itzik (Hebrew: דליה איציק‎), born 20 October 1952, is an Israeli politician who currently serves as a member of the Knesset for Kadima.[1] She has previously served in several ministerial positions, and on 4 May 2006 became the first female speaker of the Knesset, and has since served as President of Israel in an interim capacity on two occasions.

Contents

Biography

Itzik was born in Jerusalem to a family of Iraqi Jews. She is married to Danny, an employee of the Israel Electric Corporation. They have three children, Ran, Uri and Adi. The family lives in Jerusalem's Ramat Sharett neighborhood.[2]

Political career

Before being elected to the 13th Knesset in 1992, Itzik served as the deputy mayor of Jerusalem.

After being re-elected in 1996 and 1999, she was appointed Minister of the Environment in Ehud Barak's government, serving from 1999 until 2001. In 2001 she became Minister of Industry and Trade, before leaving the cabinet in 2002.

Re-elected in 2003, Itzik served as Minister of Communications in 2005. In 2006 she defected to Ariel Sharon's newly formed party, Kadima.

Following the 2006 elections she became Knesset speaker. On 25 January 2007, Israeli President Moshe Katzav took a three month leave of absence, and on 1 July of that year, resigned the office in a plea bargain. The speaker of the Knesset stands first in the line of succession, making Itzik acting President both times. She served as the official head of State until Shimon Peres formally took over on 15 July 2007.

After winning third place on the party's list, Itzik retained her seat in the 2009 elections.

Controversy

On 13 October 2009, Channel Two reported that Dalia Itzik spent NIS 75,000 of taxpayers' money on an unnecessary hotel upgrade during a 2006 4-night trip to Paris, France. During the trip, Ms. Itzik stayed in a €1,995-a night suite at Hotel Le Bristol.[3]

References

  1. ^ Dalia Itzik becomes acting president Jerusalem Post, 25 January 2007
  2. ^ The Quality of Dalia Haaretz
  3. ^ Dalia Itzik's costly Paris Escapade, Haaretz, 13 October 2009

External links

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