Nitzan Horowitz
Date of birth	(1965-02-24) 24 February 1965 (age 47)
Place of birth	Rishon LeZion, Israel
Knessets	18th
Party	New Movement-Meretz

Nitzan Horowitz (Hebrew: ניצן הורוביץ‎; born 24 February 1965) is an Israeli journalist and politician. He was the Foreign Affairs commentator and head of the International desk at News 10, the news division of Channel 10, before being elected to the Knesset on the New Movement-Meretz list in 2009.

Biography[link]

Horowitz was born in Rishon LeZion in 1965. He graduated the Tel Aviv University Law School. In his early journalistic career he served as a Military Affairs reporter during the later phase of the 1982 Lebanon war, as well as the International News editor at Israel Army Radio (1983–1987). In 1987 he began working at "Hadashot" - an Israeli newspaper - as the Foreign Affairs editor. In 1989 he started his career at Haaretz, as the Foreign Affairs Editor. He served as "Haaretz" correspondent in Paris (1993–1998), covering also the European Union, and as Haaretz correspondent in Washington D.C. (1998–2001). Back in Israel, Horowitz was the chief foreign affairs columnist for Haaretz.

When "News 10" began broadcasting on January 2002, Horowitz founded its international desk. His work there included creating major documentary films following the Tsunami disaster in Eastern Asia and the failed manhunt after Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan, and regular appearances on News 10's current affairs show, London at Kirschenbaum, for which he provided reports and analysis of global news.

In 2008, Horowitz created and directed a documentary series for Channel 10, titled "WORLD: The Next Generation - Nitzan Horowitz in search of tomorrow". The series follows major phenomena and trends that shape the future of our world in the coming decades: the ageing crisis, urban sustainability, immigration, construction and industrial development in China, and the hi-tech revolution in India.

Horowitz served as a board member of ACRI - the Association for Civil Rights in Israel. He was also active in environmental issues and in 2007 he received the "Pratt Prize" for Environmental Journalism.

In December 2008, he resigned from Channel 10 and became a candidate of the Israeli center-left party, New Movement-Meretz in the upcoming elections.^[1] On December 18, he gained the third slot on the joint list of Hatnua Hahadasha (The New Movement) and Meretz. He said "My goal is to continue to do what I have been talking about over the past years, from protecting the seashore to promoting more sophisticated, nonpolluting public transportation".^[2]

Meretz won three seats in the 2009 Israeli elections on February 10, 2009, election,^[3] making Horowitz the second openly gay Knesset member in Israeli history. The first, Uzi Even, also was a member of Meretz.^[4] On February 16, he announced a plan to bring to the Knesset a bill that would allow marriages or civil unions between two partners regardless of their religion, ethnic background, or gender.^[5]

Before being sworn into the Knesset he was told to annul his Polish citizenship, which he was able to attain due to his father's origins and used as a journalist to enter countries Israelis have a hard time entering.^[6]

In 2009, he announced that he would boycott all the events in Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Israel, saying that in his opinion, the pope bears a message of "rigidness, religious extremism and imperviousness. Of all the Pope's injustices, the worst is his objection to disseminating contraceptives in Third World countries. It's hard to assess how many miserable men and women in Africa, Asia and South America have contracted AIDS because of this Philistine attitude, but we are talking about many".^[7] He also published a two-part opinion piece on Ynetnews explaining his position.^[8]

On June 6, 2009, Horowitz addressed a crowd of 1,000 demonstrators in Tel Aviv marking 42 years of the occupation of the West Bank.^[9]

Horowitz resides in Tel Aviv with his life partner.^[10]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nitzan Horowitz

• Nitzan Horowitz Knesset website
• "WORLD: The Next Generation - Nitzan Horowitz In Search of Tomorrow" - The official website (Hebrew)
• World: The Next Generation ("Across Borders") in DocAviv Film Festival
• "We want more of Nitzan Horowitz" - By OneJerusalem.com

Nitzan
Council	Hof Ashkelon
Region	Southern coastal plain
Coordinates	31°44′7.79″N 34°37′29.28″E / 31.7354972°N 34.6248°E / 31.7354972; 34.6248Coordinates: 31°44′7.79″N 34°37′29.28″E / 31.7354972°N 34.6248°E / 31.7354972; 34.6248
Nitzan

Front of a typical caravilla in Nitzan

Vacant caravillas in Nitzan

Nitzan (Hebrew: ניצן‎, lit. Flower bud) is a religiously observant communal settlement in southern Israel. Located among the Nitzanim sand dunes north of Ashkelon, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof Ashkelon Regional Council. In 2007 it had a population of 3,000. The town has a large concentration of Bnei Menashe (10 -20% of the Nitzan population), from the India/Myanmar Border Region of India.

History[link]

The first settlement on Nitzan's current grounds was the kibbutz of Nitzanim in 1943. The kibbutz was established after the Jewish National Fund purchased a 400-acre (1.6 km²) plot of land and a large house known as the "mansion" in 1942.^[1] The first residents were immigrants, some of whom were Holocaust survivors. It later absorbed more immigrants from Poland and Romania. The kibbutz was conquered by Egypt during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, but recaptured by Israel towards the end of the conflict. However, the kibbutz was re-established four miles to the south. In 2006 the kibutz had a population of 343.

By 1995 Nitzan had a population of 105. It experienced rapid expansion in the mid-2000s after being selected to temporarily house a large group of families evacuated from Gush Katif as part of disengagement plan. 500 temporary caravillas were constructed on the eastern end of Nitzan (an area which became known as Nitzan Bet), and 250 more were ordered by the Israeli Government. According to government plans, a school and sports area will eventually be constructed.

Several environmental organisations objected to the new construction, which increased Nitzan's area by four-and-a-half times, fearing damage to the fragile sand dune ecosystem. The neighbourhood has also been the target of criticism from the settlers, as well as Israeli human-rights groups,^[2][3] citing a lack of adequate housing and facilities. They argue that governmental negligence resulted in a housing shortage which forced large families to separate into multiple caravillas, and that basic infrastructure like a youth area, nursery, and synagogue were absent.

Nitzanim Youth Village[link]

Nitzanim Youth Village (Hebrew: כפר הנוער ניצנים‎, Kfar HaNoar Nitzanim) was a youth village in southern Israel. Located in the Nitzanim dunes, it fell under the jurisdiction of Hof Ashkelon Regional Council.

The village was founded in 1949 on the original site of kibbutz Nitzanim, which had moved to a new site four kilometres south following its recapture from the Egyptian army by Israeli forces during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War (See also: Battle of Nitzanim). The village closed in 1990.

A boarding school was opened on the site in the 1990s, and at the end of the 1990s the religious communal settlement of Nitzan was founded on its land.

References[link]