- Yitzhak Cohen
MKs
Date of birth = Birth date and age|1951|12|2|df=y
Year of Aliyah =
Date of death =
Knesset(s) = 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th (current)
Party =Shas
Former parties =
Gov't roles = Minister of Religious ServicesMinister without Portfolio Rabbi Yitzhak Cohen ( _he. יצחק כהן, born
2 December 1951 ) is anIsraeli politician, ex-Sergeant in the IDF, and aRabbi . He was born in Ashkelon, Israel and served on the city's council and was its former deputy mayor. [ [http://www.knesset.gov.il/mk/eng/mk_eng.asp?mk_individual_id_t=65 Knesset Member, Yitzhak Cohen] Knesset website] He is the current Religious Services Minister.Political career
Cohen is a member of the Shas Party, and was the Secretary-General of their educational institution (El HaMa'ayan). He was first elected to
Knesset in 1996. In his time in Knesset he has served on the Finance Committee, Labor and Welfare Committee, Committee on Foreign Workers, Foreign Affairs & Defense Committee, Joint Committee for the Defense Budget, Special Committee for Discussion of the Security Service Law Substitute Member, Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, and the House Committee. He has also been a member of the Knesset Forum on the Middle East lobby, and is currently a member of the Lobby for Ethiopian Immigrants.He became the Minister of Religious Affairs in July of 1999, and resigned a year later. He served as the Deputy Minister of Finance from 2001-2003. In 2006 he was appointed the Minister without Portfolio, and is in charge of religious councils, a role convertedto Religious Services Minister in January 2008.
In 2007 he criticized the US report that Iran had stopped its nuclear program in 2003. He said the report was "ordered by someone who wants dialogue with Tehran". He compared the event to when the US got intelligence in World War Two that said there was trains going to concentration camps, and they said they were being used for industrial purposes. [ [http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3480595,00.html Shas minister: Americans' attitude to report reminiscent of Auschwitz] Ynetnews]
Personal life
Cohen resides in Ashkelon, and is married, with ten children. He was educated at a Talmudic College. He can speak Hebrew, English, and Arabic. [ [http://www.mof.gov.il/ycohen.htm Deputy Minister of Finance, Rabbi Yitzhah Cohen] Israeli Ministry of Finance] [ [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Yitzhak_Cohen.html Yitzhak Cohen] Jewish Virtual Library]
References
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