Haim Katz

Haim Katz
Date of birth	(1947-12-21) 21 December 1947
Place of birth	Germany
Year of aliyah	1949
Knessets	15, 16, 17, 18, 19
Party represented in Knesset
1999–2003	One Nation
2003–	Likud

Haim Katz (Hebrew: חיים כץ‎, born 21 December 1947) is an Israeli politician and member of the Knesset for Likud.

Background

Born in Germany in 1947, he immigrated to Israel in 1949. After finishing school and national service he worked as an electronics technician. He became involved with trade unions when he became a member of the council of Israel Aircraft Industries Workers in 1983, and was also chairman of the representation of technicians and engineers. In 1993 he became secretary of the National Workers Union of Israel Aircraft Industries, and was appointed chairman of the pension funds policy making staff of the Histadrut (Israel's general trade union) in 1996. Katz founded the Oz (Hebrew: עוז‎, lit Strength) faction within the Histadrut.

Political career

Katz was first elected to the Knesset in the 1999 elections as a member of One Nation, a party led by Histadrut chief Amir Peretz.

However, shortly before the 2003 election, he defected to Likud and was re-elected to the Knesset on their list. As a Likud MK he was appointed Chairman of the Labour, Welfare and Health Committee. He also initiated a bill which banned MKs from serving as head of the Histadrut, meaning Peretz had to resign his post in the union.

In the Likud primaries for the 2006 election, Katz gained thirteenth place on the party's list. Likud won only twelve seats and he lost his seat. However, when Natan Sharansky resigned from the Knesset in November 2006, Katz replaced him as the next member on the list. He retained his seat in the 2009 elections, for which he was placed fourteenth on the Likud list.

Today Katz lives in Shoham and is married with three children. He is also a member of the Israel Football Association.

External links

• Haim Katz on the Knesset website