Yona Yahav
| Yona Yahav | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Date of birth | 19 June 1944 |
| Place of birth | Haifa, Palestine |
| Knessets | 14 |
| Faction represented in Knesset | |
| 1996–1999 | Labor Party |
| Other roles | |
| 2003– | Mayor of Haifa |
Yona Yahav (Hebrew: יונה יהב, born 19 June 1944) is an Israeli lawyer and politician. Formerly a member of the Knesset for the Labor Party, he is currently mayor of Haifa.
Yahav was born in Haifa during the period of the Mandate era. During his national service he reached the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Military Police Corps of the IDF. He studied law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, gaining a LL.B, before continuing his legal studies at the University of London, where he served as secretary-general of the World Union of Jewish Students.
When he returned to Israel, Yahav became active in politics. He was an advisor to Minister of Transport Gad Yaacobi and the spokesman of Teddy Kollek, mayor of Jerusalem. In 1996 he was elected to the Knesset on the Labor Party list, and served as the chairman of the subcommittee for banking. However, he lost his seat in the 1999 elections.
Yahav later left Labour and joined Shinui. In 2003 he was elected mayor of Haifa on a joint Shinui-Greens ticket, having already served as deputy mayor. On 29 June 2006 he defected to Kadima, but remained mayor of the city. He is also chairman of the Haifa Economic Corporation and previously chaired the Haifa International Film Festival organisation and the city's theatre executive.
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