Yuval Steinitz
Date of birth	(1958-04-10) 10 April 1958 (age 54)
Place of birth	Ramot HaShavim, Israel
Knessets	15, 16, 17, 18
Party	Likud
Ministerial posts (current in bold)	Minister of Finance

Yuval Steinitz (Hebrew: יובל שטייניץ‎, born 10 April 1958), is an Israeli politician and Knesset member for Likud since 1999.^[1] He is the Finance Minister of Israel.

Biography[link]

Yuval Steinitz was born and raised on moshav Ramot HaShavim. He studied in the biology track at Katznelson High School in Kfar Sava. He was expelled for refusing to sign a letter promising to stop his argumentative behavior in class,^[2] and completed his bagrut (baccalaureate high school degree) externally. He did his army service as an infantry soldier in the Golani Brigade of the Israeli Defense Forces. As a reservist in the Alexandroni Brigade, he was wounded during the Lebanon War. His higher education began at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he obtained a BA and an MA in Philosophy.^[2]

Steinitz is married to Gila Canfy-Steinitz, a judge on the Jerusalem District Court. They have three children and live in Mevaseret Zion.^[2]

Academic career[link]

His doctoral thesis, entitled From A Rational Point of View was completed at the Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas at Tel Aviv University. Steinitz was awarded the Alon Scholarship for his work. He continued his research at the University of Haifa, were he worked as a senior lecturer until entering the Knesset in 1999. While at Haifa University, Steinitz published articles on military strategy and tactics in various periodicals, including the IDF journal Marachot. At the age of 29, he published his book Invitation to Philosophy, which became the best-selling philosophy text in Israel and was reprinted 40 times.^[2]

Political career[link]

Steinitz's political involvement began in the 1980s when he joined Peace Now. He was injured during a rally in Jerusalem in 1983, when a right-wing extremist hurled a hand-grenade into the crowd, killing peace activist Emil Grunzweig.^[2]

However, his objections to the Oslo Accords led him into the Likud camp.^{[citation needed]} In the 1999 elections he was twentieth on the Likud list, but the party won only 19 seats. When Netanyahu resigned in the wake of his electoral defeat, Steinitz replaced him as next in line. During his first term in the Knesset, Steinitz served as chairman of the Subcommittee for Defense, Planning and Policy, and a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and the Constitution Law and Courts Committee.

After retaining his seat in the 2003 elections, he was elected to chair the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, turning it into one of the most serious and influential bodies in the Knesset.^[3] During his second term, he also chaired the Subcommittee for Intelligence and Secret Services, the Committee for the examination of the Intelligence Services Following the War in Iraq, and co-chaired the Joint Security Committee Between the Knesset and the US Congress, alongside American Senator Jon Kyl.^[1]

After re-election in 2006, he continued to co-chair the Joint Security Committee Between the Knesset and the US Congress, and also chaired the Subcommittee for the State of Alert and Field Security and the Sub-Committee on Intelligence & Secret Services, whilst continuing to be a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and the Law and Courts Committee.

He retained his seat in the 2009 elections after winning ninth place on the Likud list. He was appointed finance minister in Benjamin Netanyahu's government.^[4]

He was the first Finance Minister of Israel to submit to the Knesset a two-year budget, instead of the until-then customary one-year budget. This move generated some controversy, with some accusing it of decreasing government transparency^[5] and others praising it for its greater efficiency.^[6]

Views[link]

Steinitz opposed the disengagement plan in 2005, critiquing both its perceived objectives and logistic implementation. He was particularly concerned about the IDF's intention to transfer the Philadelphi Route, a strategic buffer zone between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, to the Egyptians. He claimed that Egypt would not stop the arms smuggling by Palestinian terrorist groups.^[7]

He has campaigned for heightened awareness of the Iranian nuclear threat, lobbying at home and abroad to ensure that Iran does not become a nuclear power.^[8]

In 2008, when Israel refused permission for Palestinian Fulbright students to leave Gaza and study in the United States, Steinitz supported this action. He told the New York Times: “We are fighting the regime in Gaza that does its utmost to kill our citizens and destroy our schools and our colleges. So I don’t think we should allow students from Gaza to go anywhere. Gaza is under siege, and rightly so, and it is up to the Gazans to change the regime or its behavior.”^[9]Steinitz was against releasing terrorists convicted of murder in a prisoner exchange deal for Gilad Shalit.^[2]He disagrees with Governor of the Bank of Israel, Stanley Fischer, on various issues, and has a complicated relationship with Netanyahu, who bypassed him several times in his first year in office.^[2]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Yuval Steinitz Knesset website
• Google Books Preview of Invitation to Philosophy
• The Israeli Missile Defense Association Website: Steinitz Bio
• The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs: Yuval Steinitz articles
• The Ariel Center for Policy Research: English articles by Yuval Steinitz
• British Israel Communications and Research Centre: Steinitz on the Iranian Threat

v t e Finance Ministers of Israel Kaplan (1948–52) Eshkol (1952–63) Sapir (1963–68) Sherf (1968–69) Sapir (1969–74) Rabinovitz (1974–77) Erlich (1977–79) Hurvitz (1979–81) Aridor (1981–83) Cohen-Orgad (1983–84) Moda'i (1984–86) Nissim (1986–88) Peres (1988–90) Shamir (1990) Moda'i (1990–92) Shochat (1992–96) Meridor (1996–97) Netanyahu (1997) Ne'eman (1997–98) Netanyahu (1998–99) Sheetrit (1999) Shochat (1999–2001) Shalom (2001–03) Netanyahu (2003–05) Olmert (2005–06) Hirschson (2006–07) Bar-On (2007–09) Steinitz (2009–)

This article is about the moshav. For other uses, see Yuval (disambiguation).

Yuval
Hebrew	יוּבַל
Also spelled	Kfar Yuval (officially)
Name meaning	Creek
Founded	1953
Founded by	Refugees from the Old City of Jerusalem
Council	Mevo'ot HaHermon
Region	Upper Galilee
Coordinates	33°14′48.11″N 35°35′53.51″E / 33.2466972°N 35.5981972°E / 33.2466972; 35.5981972Coordinates: 33°14′48.11″N 35°35′53.51″E / 33.2466972°N 35.5981972°E / 33.2466972; 35.5981972
Yuval

Yuval (Hebrew: יוּבַל‎‎), also called Kfar Yuval (כְּפַר יוּבַל), is a moshav in the Finger of the Galilee, between Metula and Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel. It belongs to the Mevo'ot HaHermon Regional Council.

The moshav was founded in 1953 by evacuees from the Old City of Jerusalem who originally arrived from Kurdistan. It was named "Yuval" (creek) after the Jordan river's tributaries in the area and also referring to Jeremiah 17:8^[1] ("sends out its roots by the creek"). In the early 1960s most of the founders abandoned the moshav, and it was repopulated by immigrants from Kochi, India.

The proximity of the moshav to the border of Israel with Lebanon has made it a target for terrorist attacks. In 1975 a group of terrorists infiltrated the moshav, took control of a residence, and killed three members of one family.

The main economic branches of the moshav, as of June 2004, are a chicken coop and plantings of avocado, apples, and plums. In recent years the moshav has relied on tourism from Israelis, and it is one of the leading places for village-style hospitality in northern Israel.

References[link]

Leon Charney is an American real estate tycoon, author, philanthropist, political pundit, media personality, and Jewish cantor. He lives in Manhattan in New York City, dividing his time between his residences in Tel Aviv and Boca Raton, Florida. Forbes lists Charney as #308 among the wealthiest Americans.

Charney is best known as a New York real estate baron, but in recent years, his role as one of the backdoor players integral to sealing the Camp David Peace Treaty between Israel and Egypt has emerged. In 1979, Charney played an important role as the unofficial adviser to former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, most well known for his behind-the-scenes role in the Camp David accord which created the first comprehensive peace between Israel and Egypt in 1978 and 1979.

In 2008, some thirty years later, Charney, a major real estate owner in New York's Times Square, appeared for the first time on the Forbes 400 list of the wealthiest Americans, debuting at #321. The 2009 list^[2] - the first to reflect the world financial crisis, indicates Charney's net worth had fallen $200 million in the previous year, although his rank had jumped to #296, up 35 notches, indicating that while he lost wealth, he lost comparatively less than other fellow billionaires. For 2010, Charney ranked #308 on the Forbes 400.^[1]

Rise to Prominence[link]

At age 36 and a half, Charney, an aspiring entertainment lawyer in New York City, became counsel and adviser to Senator Vance Hartke of Indiana. Through Hartke, Charney became more involved in international politics and diplomacy. He became close to Golda Meir, Prime Minister of Israel, with whom Charney worked on Israel's initiative to free Soviet Jews and help them migrate to Israel.

That effort saw the emigration of 1,000 Jews from the Soviet Union to Israel. Later, United States President Jimmy Carter asked Charney to help advise him during the Camp David Accords. Charney refers to his efforts as using "back door channels", and he advised President Carter from 1976-1980. In a forward for one of Charney's books, Carter referred to Charney as "the unsung hero of the Camp David Peace Treaty."

In 1986 Charney went to Tunisia to meet with Yasser Arafat in the hope of a possible peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Back Door Channel[link]

In 2009, Charney was a featured interviewee in a Harry Hunkele documentary film starring former U.S. President Jimmy Carter entitled Back Door Channels: The Price of Peace which is opening in the heart of the Arab world in Abu Dhabi in October, 2010 at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, also known as the Middle East International Film Festival. The film is the source of much buzz in the diplomatic sphere, as it is rumored that many never before revealed aspects of the original peace process were unveiled, some of which paint a less than rosy picture of American diplomatic efforts at the time. It has only been verified that the movie has been shown once, in Monte-Carlo, due to a special request made by Albert II, Prince of Monaco, the President of the Festival, to Arick Wierson, the film's executive producer.

The film itself was a source of some controversy in New York political circles. The film deals with the 1979 Peace Treaty between Israel and Egypt and the real-life behind-the scenes drama that led to the historic peace treaty.^[3] The film's title is actually an opaque reference to Charney himself, considered by many to be the "back door channel" that enabled the Camp David peace to materialize. In addition to Carter and Charney, the film features former Secretary-General of the U.N. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Dr. Henry Kissinger, the former U.S. Secretary of State, CNN's Wolf Blitzer, and Senior Adviser to the His Majesty King Mohammed VI of Morocco, André Azoulay and many other international dignitaries who played roles both major and minor in the Israeli-Egyptian peace.

The Charney Report[link]

Charney hosts a national weekly TV talk show Leon Charney Report which deals with local New York politics, foreign affairs and the Middle East, social issues and popular culture. Although his show has been seen weekly on WNYE-TV for years, in recent years it has gained ground since the station became NYCTV in 2005, after Mayor Bloomberg took control of the school system and enabled his top media executive Arick Wierson, to merge the stations with the existing NYC TV cable channels. Via NYC TV, The Charney Report began podcasting its audio version on NPR and began a nationally syndicated the audio component as radio programming.

Since February 7, 2010, the Leon Charney Report has only broadcast repeats of previous shows.

Author[link]

Charney is the author of four books, his most recent on The Mystery of the kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead, which was published in December 2006 by Barricade Books.^[4][5] The book is The Mystery of the Kaddish: Its Profound Influence on Judaism, ISBN 1-56980-300-5 (hardcover), ISBN 1-56980-347-1 (paperback).

Philanthropy[link]

In 2003, Charney donated $10 million to New York University Medical Center for a new cardiac wing of the hospital.^[6] He is also the major benefactor of the University of Haifa's Leon H. Charney School of Marine Sciences,^[7] for which he reportedly donated more than $10 Million in 2007.

Personal[link]

Charney holds an honorary title as the Chairman of the University of Haifa in Israel. Although not considered to be overtly religious, Charney is a renowned Jewish cantor, singing on Sabbaths and Holy Jewish Holidays at places of worship across the United States. He is married to Israeli-born Tzili Doron and with her he has two twin boys, Mickey and Nati. Doron is a first cousin of Israeli super model Bar Rafaeli. Charney's nephew Jay Blumenreich currently lives in Ra'anana Israel. Charney attended his great nephew Kfir Blumenreich's bar-mitzvah on June 28, 2009, in Herzliya, Israel.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Leon Charney at the Internet Movie Database

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Leon Charney