Meet the Candidates

Benny Begin

Ze'ev Binyamin ("Benny") Begin, was born in Jerusalem in 1943, the son of former Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin.

Yuli Edelstein

Yuli Edelstein was born in the Ukraine in 1958, and early on became an activist for freedom to learn the Hebrew language In 1984 he was arrested on a fabricated case and  spent 3 and a half years in a labor camp in difficult conditions, where he was permanently injured In 1987 he was released and allowed to immigrate to Israel.

Michael Eitan

Michael Eitan was born in Tel Aviv in 1944, to parents who made aliyah from Galicia in the 1930s. He Hebraicized his name by dropping the family name Hirschprong and making his middle name Eitan into his family name.

Ze’ev Elkin

Ze'ev Elkin was born in 1971 in Kharkov (today, Ukraine), in the Former Soviet Union.
He attended the University of Kharkov where he studied mathematics and founded the Union of Teachers of Hebrew and Judaism. As a youth, Elkin had been active in the Bnei Akiva movement, and in 1990, he became the executive director of Bnei Akiva of the Soviet Union. That same year he immigrated to Israel, where he attended the Yeshiva in Allon Shvut and worked in Gesher- Aliyah Divison..

Gilad Erdan

Gilad Moshe Erdan (born 30 September 1970) is an Israeli political and member of the Knesset for Likud. He is currently the chairman of the Likud Youth.

Gila Gamliel

Gila Gamliel was born in Gedera in 1974, and did her military service in the Israel Air Force, where she attained the rank of sergeant, heading an air force investigative staff

Tzipi Hotobeli

Tzipi Hotobeli was born in 1978 to parents who immigrated to Israel from Georgia, in the FSU, and she grew up in Rehovot. She attended the Bnei Akiva Ulpana in Tel Aviv and did her post-high school national service as a Jewish Agency representative in Atlanta, Georgia. Afterward, she was sent by International Bnei Akiva to be an emissary in Paris.

Moshe Kahlon

Moshe Kahlon (born 19 November 1960) is an Israeli politician and lawyer. A former Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, he is currently an MK for Likud.

Haim Katz

Born in Germany in 1947, he migrated to Israel in 1949. After finishing school and national service he worked as an electronics technician. He became involved with trade unions when he became a member of the council of Israel Aircraft Industries Workers in 1983, and was also chairman of the representation of technicians and engineers. In 1993 he became secretary of the National Workers Union of Israel Aircraft Industries, and was appointed chairman of the pension funds policy making staff of the Histadrut (Israel's general trade union) in 1996. Katz founded the Oz (Hebrew: עוז‎, lit Strength) faction within the Histadrut.

Yisrael Katz

Yisrael Katz, born 21 September 1955 in Ashkelon, Katz earned a BA and an MA at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Formerly a Minister of Agriculture, today he is a member of the Knesset for Likud.

Limor Livnat

Limor Livnat (born in Haifa, 22 September 1950) is an Israeli politician, former education minister and currently a member of the Knesset for Likud.

A senior member of the party, Livnat served in Ariel Sharon's government before resigning on January 14, 2006. Her departure followed Sharon's formation of the new Kadima party, while Livnat remained in Likud and left the cabinet along with other Likud members. A resident of Tel Aviv, Livnat is married and has two children.