Ariel Atias
Ministerial roles
2006–2009Minister of Communications
2009–2013Minister of Housing & Construction
Faction represented in the Knesset
2006–2014Shas
Personal details
Born (1970-11-13) 13 November 1970
Tel Aviv, Israel

Ariel Atias (Hebrew: אריאל אטיאס, born 13 November 1970) is an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Shas, and as the country's Minister of Housing and Construction. He was also manager of Shas' kosher supervision organization, Badatz Beit Yosef. On 22 June 2014, he handed his resignation from the Parliament, citing his departure from the political scene.[1]

Early life

Born in Tel Aviv to parents who were Jewish immigrants from Morocco.

Career

Atias was first elected to the Knesset on Shas' list in the 2006 elections. In May 2006, he was promoted to the position of Minister of Communications in the last government.

He retained his seat in the 2009 elections, having been placed second on the Shas list, and was appointed Minister of Housing and Construction in the Netanyahu government.[2] In June 2009, Atias called for the segregation of Israel's Arab population from Jewish Israelis, saying that achieving it was "a national duty ... populations that should not mix are spreading ... I don't think that it is appropriate [for them] to live together".[3][4][5]

Atias retained his seat again in the 2013 Knesset elections, but Shas was not included in the coalition, resulting in Atias losing his ministerial post. He resigned from the Knesset in June 2014 in order to take a break from politics, and was replaced by Yoav Ben-Tzur.

Minister of Communications

As the Minister of Communications, Atias created a major cellular reform in Israel, which led to Israel's connectivity fees being one of the lowest in the OECD.[6] He also created the number portability reform in which a user is given the rights to his cellular number, thus allowing users more freedom to move from one company to another, encouraging competition between cellular companies[7] Another one of his initiatives as Minister of Communications was opening the market for Mobile virtual network operators.[8]

In 2007, he tried to get a law passed that would censor violence, sex, and gambling on the internet.[9]

Personal life

Atias is married, has four children, and lives in Jerusalem.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "Shas' Ariel Atias Leaves Knesset – the Yeshiva World". 23 June 2014. Archived from the original on 30 July 2015. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  2. ↑ Netanyahu sworn in as Israel's prime minister Archived 2 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine Haaretz, 1 April 2009.
  3. ↑ Lieberman, Guy (2 July 2009). "Housing Minister: Spread of Arab Population Must Be Stopped". Haaretz.
  4. ↑ Beinart, Peter (2013). The Crisis of Zionism. Picador. p. 27. ISBN 978-1250026736.
  5. ↑ Booth, Richard (2011). Interpreting the Middle East. ReadHowYouWant. p. 21. ISBN 978-1459600140.
  6. ↑ Israel connectivity fees among OECD's lowest Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ↑ Atias: Number portability will awaken cellular market Archived 2 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ↑ Communications Minister Atias: It's time for MVNOs Archived 26 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ↑ Big Brother in Israel? Ynetnews, 21 July 2007
  10. ↑ Ariel Atias Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine Knesset website
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