Gideon Sa'ar is an
IsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i politician who currently serves as a member of the
KnessetThe Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...
for
LikudLikud is the major center-right political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin in an alliance with several right-wing and liberal parties. Likud's victory in the 1977 elections was a major turning point in the country's political history, marking the first time the left had...
, and as the country's Minister of Education.
Biography
Born in
Tel AvivTel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
as Gideon Moses Serchanski, Sa'ar studied political science at
Tel Aviv UniversityTel Aviv University is a public university located in Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel. With nearly 30,000 students, TAU is Israel's largest university.-History:...
after his
national serviceNational service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
, earning a BA, before gaining an
LL.BThe Bachelor of Laws is an undergraduate, or bachelor, degree in law originating in England and offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree...
from the same institution. He worked as an aide to the
Attorney GeneralThe Attorney General of Israel stands at the head of the legal system of the executive branch and the head of the public legal establishment, in charge of protecting the rule of law and as such entrusted with protecting the public interest from possible harm by government authorities...
between 1995 and 1997, and then as an aide to the State Attorney until 1998.
He worked as a secretary to the
cabinetThe Cabinet of Israel is a formal body composed of government officials called ministers, chosen and led by the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister must appoint members based on the distribution of votes to political parties during legislative elections, and its composition must be approved by a...
in 1999 and again from 2001–2 after Likud's Ariel Sharon won a special election for Prime Minister. In the 2003 elections he won a seat in the Knesset on Likud's list, and was appointed Likud Parliamentary Group Chairman. He was opposed to
Israel's unilateral disengagement planIsrael's unilateral disengagement plan , also known as the "Disengagement plan", "Gaza expulsion plan", and "Hitnatkut", was a proposal by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, adopted by the government on June 6, 2004 and enacted in August 2005, to evict all Israelis from the Gaza Strip and from...
, and attempted to pass a bill demanding a referendum on the subject.
After retaining his seat in the 2006 elections he was reappointed Group Chairman and also became a deputy Knesset speaker.
Whilst in the Knesset, Sa'ar has proposed bills to jail employers who fire pregnant women, (he chairs the Knesset Committee on the Status of Women) and to ban cosmetics testing on animals.
In December 2008 Sa'ar won the Likud primaries for its list going into the
2009 electionsElections for the 18th Knesset were held in Israel on 10 February 2009. These elections became necessary due to the resignation of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as leader of the Kadima party, and the failure of his successor, Tzipi Livni, to form a coalition government...
, giving him second place on the Likud list after leader Binyamin Netanyahu. He retained his seat, and was appointed Minister of Education on 31 March.
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