Binyamin Elon

MKs


Date of birth = Birth date and age|1954|11|10|df=y
Year of Aliyah =
Date of death =
Knesset(s) = 14th, 15th, 16th,
17th (current)
Party = Moledet
(part of the National Union)
Former parties =
Gov't roles = Minister of Tourism
Rabbi Binyamin "Benny" Elon ( _he. בנימין אלון, born 10 November 1954) is an Israeli politician, a Member of the Knesset and chairman of the right-wing National Union, within which he is a member of the Moledet faction. A ninth-generation Jerusalemite, Elon has lived in Beit El, an Israeli city in the West Bank(Judea and Samaria) for the last twenty years. His father Menachem Elon was the former Deputy Chief Justice of Israel and his brother, Rabbi Mordechai Elon, is a prominent figure in the Religious Zionist Movement.

Background

Before becoming a Member of the Knesset he founded, along with Hanan Porat, the Talmudic College Beit Orot and became the first dean. [ [http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3019538,00.html Benny Elon, National Union] Ynetnews, 26 January 2005] [ [http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/03/22/at_the_front_of_israels_culture_war At the front of Israel's culture war] Boston Globe, 22 March 2006]

In February 2006 Elon was diagnosed with throat cancer. [ [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/QA.jhtml?qaNo=137 Q&A with National Union MK Binyamin Elon] Haaretz, 2 March 2006]

Knesset

Elon was first elected to the Knesset in 1996 as member of the right-wing Moledet party, which advocates voluntary transfer of Palestinian population from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, an ideology which has been widely denounced in Israel. In 1999, the party allied with other right-wing parties to form the National Union party. Following the assassination of Moledet leader Rehavam Zeevi in 2001, Elon was elected to replace him as party chairman and as Tourism Minister. He consequently served two terms as Minister of Tourism, between 2001-2002 and again between 2003-2004, both in Ariel Sharon's government.

Ideology

Elon is a keen supporter of the continuation of the Israeli settlement enterprise in the West Bank and return to Gush Katif, and does not recognize a Palestinian right for self determination in any part of the Land of Israel. As such, he rejects the efforts for establishing peace in the Middle East as viewed by the mainstream (see Road map for peace). Instead, he suggests an alternative proposal called "The Right Road to Peace", centered on motivating the emigration of West Bank and Gaza Arabs, also known as the Elon Peace Plan.

During the 16th Knesset, Elon gained notoriety for his attempt to foil Ariel Sharon's plan to dismiss him from the cabinet [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9505E6D61331F936A35755C0A9629C8B63 Sharon Fires 2 Cabinet Ministers On Eve of Vote on Gaza Plan] New York Times, 5 June, 2004] for intending to vote against the disengagement plan. [ [http://www.gamla.org.il/english/article/2003/july/g1.htm Benny Elon Interview] Jerusalem Post, 15 July 2003 (republished by Gamla)] Elon went into hiding, claiming that if he did not receive his dismissal in person within 48 hours of the cabinet meeting, then he would still be able to vote. Ultimately his dismissal was deemed legal, and he was not allowed to vote in the meeting.

Elon has been an advocate for "transfer" [ [http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0206/p05s01-wome.html Israeli expulsion idea gains steam] Christian Science Monitor, 6 February 2002] as a solution for the demographic issues posed by the Arab population.

Additional Work

He is the author of "God's Covenant with Israel: Establishing Biblical Boundaries in Today's World" (2005).

References

External links

* [http://www.israelinitiative.com The Israel Initiative website]
* [http://support.tjci.org/site/PageServer?pagename=announcement Israel Initiative Petition and Video]