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Yuval Steinitz

(1958 - )

Yuval Steinitz is an Israeli politician and government minister.

Steinitz (born April 10, 1958) was born and rasied on Moshav Ramot HaShavim in central Israel. He completed hi mandatory service in Israel Defense Forces as an infantry soldier in the Golani Brigade. Following his discharge from active duty, Steinitz served as a reservist in the Alexandroni Brigade and was later wounded while fighting in Lebanon during the 1982 Operation Peace for the Galilee.

Steinitz holds a B.A. and M.A. with honors in Philosophy from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Tel Aviv University. He recieved the Alon Prize for Ph.D. Students in 1993. He served as a Senior Lecturer in the Philosophy Department at Haifa University and as President of the Association for the Public's Right to Know  from 1999 through 2004.

Originally a member of the Peace Now movement, Steinitz objected to the signing of the Oslo Peace Accords and joined the Likud political party.  In 1999, he was placed 20th on the Likud's electoral ticket and though the party only won 19 seats in Knesset, Steinitz recieved a placement following the resignation of Benjamin Netanyahu. Steinitz has been reelected to the Knesset on the Likud ticket in 2003, 2006, 2009 and again in 2013.

During his tenure in the Knesset, Steinitz has served as a member and chairman of the Foreign Affairs & Defense Committee, and as member of the Constitution, Law and Justice, and the Science and Technology Committees. He chaired the Committee for the Examination of the Intelligence Services Following the War in Iraq as well as the Parliamentary Inquiry Committee for the Events that Took Place in Amona. He co-chaired the Joint Congress-Knesset Security Committee, together with Senator John Kyl [R-AZ] from 2003 to 2006.  In 2009, he was appointed by Prime Minister Netanyahu as the Minister of Finance and was the first Finance Minister to submit a two-year budget, instead of the until-then customary one-year budget.

Following the January 2013 elections and the formation of the 33rd government in March 2013, Steinitz was appointed as Minister of Strategic & Intelligence Affairs responsible for International Relations. Yair Lapid replaced Steinitz as Minister of Finance. Steinitz will serve as Israel's Minister of Infrastructure and Minister of of the Atomic Energy Commission in the 34th government.

He is married and the father of three children.


Sources: Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Wikipedia.