Haim Oron
| Haim Oron | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Date of birth | 26 March 1940 |
| Place of birth | Givatayim, Mandatory Palestine |
| Knessets | 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 |
| Faction represented in Knesset | |
| 1988–1992 | Mapam |
| 1992–2011 | Meretz |
| Ministerial roles | |
| 1999–2000 | Minister of Agriculture |
Haim "Jumes" Oron (Hebrew: חיים "ג'ומס" אורון, born 26 March 1940) is an Israeli politician and former Minister of Agriculture. He was head of the political party Meretz, for whom he served as a member of the Knesset.
Oron was born in Givatayim and grew up in Ramat Gan. His parents emigrated from Poland before World War II. His father was a textile worker and his mother a housewife. His nickname as a boy was "Jamus" (water buffalo) and later, "Jumes" (sycamore fruit).
Oron served in the Israel Defense Forces with the airborne Nahal unit. During his military service, he and his wife Nili joined kibbutz Lahav, where he taught in the high school and worked in various branches of the kibbutz economy (poultry, field crops, sausage factory, plastics factory). He was a member of the kibbutz committee and served as executive secretary. In 1968, he became secretary of the Hashomer Hatzair movement. He was national secretary of Kibbutz Artzi twice.
Oron had five children - Irit, Uri, Yaniv, Assaf and Oded. Yaniv died in a tractor accident at the age of 4. Oron and his wife continue to live on the kibbutz, and his benefits as an ex-Knesset member and ex-Minister go into the collective treasury.
Oron was one of the founders of Peace Now (1978). In 1988, he was voted to the Knesset for Mapam which in 1992 merged with Ratz and Shinui as Meretz. In the thirteenth Knesset, he was chairman of the Ethics Committee. In the fourteenth Knesset, he became the leader of Meretz.
He joined Haim Ramon in his bid for the Histadrut leadership, and after Ramon's victory, during 1995-1996, served as its treasurer. In 1999, Oron was appointed Minister of Agriculture in Ehud Barak's government. In 2000, he resigned from the Knesset, but returned after the 2003 elections.
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