Nitzan Horowitz

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Nitzan Horowitz
Date of birth (1965-02-24) 24 February 1965
Place of birth Rishon LeZion, Israel
Knessets 18, 19
Party represented in Knesset
2009– Meretz

Nitzan Horowitz (Hebrew: ניצן הורוביץ‎; born 24 February 1965) is an Israeli politician and former journalist. He was the Foreign Affairs commentator and head of the International desk at News 10, the news division of Channel 10, before being elected to the Knesset on the Meretz list in 2009.

In 2013, Horowtiz announced his candidacy in the October 22 Tel Aviv mayoral race against long-time incumbent Ron Huldai. If he wins, Howoritz will become the first openly gay mayor in the Middle East. [1]

Biography

Horowitz was born in Rishon LeZion in 1965. He graduated the Tel Aviv University Law School. In his early journalistic career he served as a Military Affairs reporter during the later phase of the 1982 Lebanon war, as well as the International News editor at Israel Army Radio (1983–1987). In 1987 he began working at "Hadashot" - an Israeli newspaper - as the Foreign Affairs editor. In 1989 he started his career at Haaretz, as the Foreign Affairs Editor. He served as "Haaretz" correspondent in Paris (1993–1998), covering also the European Union, and as Haaretz correspondent in Washington D.C. (1998–2001). Back in Israel, Horowitz was the chief foreign affairs columnist for Haaretz.

When "News 10" began broadcasting on January 2002, Horowitz founded its international desk. His work there included creating major documentary films following the Tsunami disaster in Eastern Asia and the failed manhunt after Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan, and regular appearances on News 10's current affairs show, London at Kirschenbaum, for which he provided reports and analysis of global news.

In 2008, Horowitz created and directed a documentary series for Channel 10, titled "WORLD: The Next Generation - Nitzan Horowitz in search of tomorrow". The series follows major phenomena and trends that shape the future of our world in the coming decades: the ageing crisis, urban sustainability, immigration, construction and industrial development in China, and the hi-tech revolution in India.

Horowitz served as a board member of ACRI - the Association for Civil Rights in Israel. He was also active in environmental issues and in 2007 he received the "Pratt Prize" for Environmental Journalism.

In December 2008, he resigned from Channel 10 and became a candidate of the Israeli left-wing party, Meretz in the upcoming elections.[2] On December 18, he gained the third slot on the joint list of Hatnua Hahadasha (The New Movement) and Meretz. He said "My goal is to continue to do what I have been talking about over the past years, from protecting the seashore to promoting more sophisticated, nonpolluting public transportation".[3]

Meretz won three seats in the 2009 Israeli elections on February 10, 2009, election,[4] making Horowitz the second openly gay Knesset member in Israeli history.[5] The first, Uzi Even, also was a member of Meretz.[6] On February 16, he announced a plan to bring to the Knesset a bill that would allow marriages or civil unions between two partners regardless of their religion, ethnic background, or gender.[7]

Before being sworn into the Knesset he was told to annul his Polish citizenship, which he was able to attain due to his father's origins and used as a journalist to enter countries Israelis have a hard time entering.[8]

In 2009, he announced that he would boycott all the events in Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Israel, saying that in his opinion, the pope bears a message of "rigidness, religious extremism and imperviousness. Of all the Pope's injustices, the worst is his objection to disseminating contraceptives in Third World countries. It's hard to assess how many miserable men and women in Africa, Asia and South America have contracted AIDS because of this Philistine attitude, but we are talking about many".[9] He also published a two-part opinion piece on Ynetnews explaining his position.[10]

On June 6, 2009, Horowitz addressed a crowd of 1,000 demonstrators in Tel Aviv marking 42 years of the occupation of the West Bank.[11]

Horowitz resides in Tel Aviv with his life partner.[12]

References

  1. ↑ Maltz, Judy (June 24, 2013). "Can Nitzan Horowitz become the Mideast's first gay mayor?". Haaretz. Retrieved 25 June 2013. 
  2. ↑ Paz, Shelly (2008-12-15). "Gilon beats Gal-On in Meretz primary". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2008-12-15. 
  3. ↑ Paz, Shelly (2008-12-18). "Meretz and Hatnua Hahadasha unveil their joint Knesset list". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2008-12-19. 
  4. ↑ Senyor, Eli (2009-02-11). "Meretz shock: Gal-On not in Knesset". Ynetnews. Retrieved 2009-02-21. 
  5. ↑ Cohen, Benjamin (October 20, 2010). "Israel’s only gay MP speaks out for marriage on visit to London". Pink News. Retrieved 6 August 2012. 
  6. ↑ Ilan, Shahar. "The freshman". Haaretz. Retrieved 2009-02-21. 
  7. ↑ "First-term Meretz MK to present bill for gay and civil marriages". Haaretz. 2009-02-17. Retrieved 2009-02-21. 
  8. ↑ Ilan, Shahar. "Three dual-citizen MKs ordered to annul their foreign passports". Ha'aretz. Retrieved 11 April 2009. 
  9. ↑ Meretz MK to boycott all pope's activities in Israel
  10. ↑ Horowitz, Nitzan (2009-05-10). "Making our world worse". Ynetnews. Retrieved 2009-05-12. Horowitz, Nitzan (2009-05-11). "Disrespecting other faiths". Ynetnews. Retrieved 2009-05-12. 
  11. ↑ Ofri Ilani (2009-06-06). "Protestors march in Tel Aviv to mark 42 years of occupation". Haaretz. 
  12. ↑ http://www.knesset.gov.il/mk/eng/mk_eng.asp?mk_individual_id_t=843

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