David Rotem
| David Rotem | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Date of birth | 11 January 1949 |
| Place of birth | Bnei Brak, Israel |
| Date of death | 8 June 2015 (aged 66) |
| Place of death | Efrat, West Bank |
| Knessets | 17, 18, 19 |
| Faction represented in Knesset | |
| 2007–2015 | Yisrael Beiteinu |
David Rotem (Hebrew: דוד רותם, 11 January 1949 – 8 June 2015) was an Israeli politician. He served as a member of the Knesset for Yisrael Beiteinu between 2007 and 2015.
Rotem was born in Bnei Brak and grew up in Jerusalem. He attended Horev, a religious elementary School and the Horev Yeshiva High School. From 1966 to 1967 he studied at Bell Lane, a Jewish school in London. Between 1967 and 1971 he studied law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, gaining an LLB.
In 1972 he became an assistant at the Faculty of Law at Bar-Ilan University, a position he held until 1977. Between 1978 and 1980 he worked as a lecturer on legislative law at the same institution. He has also served as a member of the executive committee of Sha'arei Tzedek Medical Center, and deputy chairman of the Central Elections Committee.
He spoke Yiddish and English, and was nicknamed Dudu. He served on the boards of several not-for-profit organizations.
Formerly a member of the National Religious Party, he was placed twelfth on the Yisrael Beiteinu list for the 2006 Knesset elections. Although the party won only eleven seats, Rotem entered the Knesset on 16 January 2007 as a replacement for the deceased Yuri Stern. He retained his seat in the 2009 elections, for which he was placed eighth on the party's list. He was re-elected for a third term in the 2013 elections on the joint Likud-Yisrael Beiteinu list.
Known for his "typical bluntness," and serving as the "powerful chairman" of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, Rotem has worked on issues of religion and state. An Orthodox Jew, he has conducted negotiations regarding the conversion and civil partnership bills, two laws his party promised to pass, mainly to benefit immigrants from the former Soviet Union. The conversion bill was criticized by both Orthodox and Reform constituents, while the civil partnership bill was attacked by those favoring civil marriage in Israel. The civil union law, while limited, was passed and survived review by the High Court. It applies only to unions where both Israelis are listed as "without religion," but Rotem described it as a first step in the direction of civil marriages. Civil marriage advocates, who note that this law affects approximately 30,000 Israelis, view it as a positive development they hope that may will lead to "more far-reaching legislation."
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