Burg, Avraham

(1955- )

   Born in Jerusalem, he is the son of veteran National Religious Party politician Yosef Burg. A graduate of the Orthodox hesder yeshiva system, he began his political career in 1985 as advisor to Prime Minister Shimon Peres on Israel-Diaspora affairs. He was first elected to the Knesset on the Israel Labor Party list in 1988 and reelected in 1992. He served as chairman of the Knesset Education Committee. He did not stand for election (see KNESSET ELECTIONS) in 1996. In June 1995, he was elected chairman of the executive of the Jewish Agency for Israel and the World Zionist Organization (WZO), replacing Simha Dinitz. In December 1997, he was reelected to a second two-year term. He was a proponent of religious tolerance among Israeli Jews, continuing peace negotiations with the Palestinians, and the streamlining of the Jewish Agency and the WZO to reflect current political and financial circumstances affecting the Israel-Diaspora relationship. He reentered party politics in the spring of 1999, winning a seat in the Knesset on the One Israel list. He was elected speaker of the 15th Knesset on 6 July 1999, defeating the only other candidate, Hadash Party leader Mohammed Barakei, by 100 votes to 10. Burg lost the 2003 Labor leadership race to former Haifa mayor Amram Mitzna but was reelected to the 16th Knesset in 2003. He subsequently announced his retirement from party politics but was an active participant in the private Israeli-Palestinian Geneva Initiative (December 2003).