From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dalia Itzik (Hebrew: דליה איציק), born 20 October 1952, is an Israeli politician who currently
serves as a member of the Knesset for Kadima.[1] She has
previously served in several ministerial positions, and on 4 May
2006 became the first female speaker of the Knesset on 4 May 2006, and has since served as
President of Israel in an interim
capacity on two occasions.
Biography
Itzik was born in Jerusalem to a family of Iraqi Jews. She is
married to Danny, an employee of the Israel Electric Corporation.
They have three children, Ran, Uri and Adi. The family lives in
Jerusalem's Ramat
Sharett neighborhood.[2]
Political
career
Before being elected to the 13th Knesset in
1992, Itzik served as the deputy mayor of Jerusalem.
After being re-elected in 1996 and 1999, she was appointed Minister of the
Environment in Ehud Barak's government, serving from 1999 until
2001. In 2001 she became Minister of
Industry and Trade, before leaving the cabinet in 2002.
Re-elected in 2003, Itzik served as Minister of
Communications in 2005. In 2006 she defected to Ariel Sharon's newly
formed party, Kadima.
Following the 2006 elections she
became Knesset speaker. On 25 January 2007, Israeli President Moshe
Katzav took a three month leave of absence, and on 1 July of
that year, resigned the office in a plea bargain. The speaker of
the Knesset stands first in the line of
succession, making Itzik acting President both times. She
served as the official head of State until Shimon Peres formally took over on July
15, 2007.
After winning third place on the party's list, Itzik retained
her seat in the 2009 elections.
Controversy
On October 13, 2009, Channel Two reported that Dalia Itzik spent
NIS 75,000 of taxpayers' money on an unnecessary hotel upgrade
during a 2006 4-night trip to Paris, France. During the trip, Ms.
Itzik stayed in a €1,995-a night suite at Hotel Le Bristol.[3]
References
External
links