Haim Oron

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Haim Oron

Date of birth	26 March 1940
Knesset(s)	12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th (current)
Party	Meretz-Yachad
Former parties	Mapam
Gov't roles (current in bold)	Minister of Agriculture & Rural Development

Haim "Jumas" Oron (Hebrew: חיים "ג'ומס" אורון‎, born March 26, 1940) is an Israeli politician and former Minister of Agriculture. He is currently head of the political party Meretz-Yachad, which he also represents as Member of the Knesset.

1 Biography
2 Political career
3 Activism
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Biography

Oron was born in Giv'atayim and grew up in Ramat Gan. His parents immigrated from Poland before World War II. ^[1] His father was a textile worker and his mother a housewife. His nickname as a boy was "Jamus" (water buffalo) and later, "Jumas." ^[2]

Oron served in the airborne Nahal. After the army, 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). ^[3] 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 Ha'artzi (National Kibbutz movement) twice. ^[4]

Oron had four children - Irit, Assaf, Yaniv and Oded. Yaniv died in a tractor accident at the age of 4. ^[5] Oron and his wife continue to live on the kibbutz, and his salary as a Knesset member goes into the collective treasury.^[6]

[edit] Political career

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 (which later became Meretz-Yachad). 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. He was voted to the 17th Knesset in the 2006 elections.

[edit] Activism

Oron has embarked on several projects to improve the welfare of the Bedouin population of the Negev, among them the establishment of a wastewater purification plant, a health clinic and nursery schools. ^[7] He is a close friend of Marwan Barghouti, now serving five life terms in an Israeli jail for terrorist activities.^[8] Qadura Fares, a senior Fatah official, describes Oron as a "loyal friend" and a "loyal Zionist," but also attentive to the problems of the Palestinians. ^[9]