Avraham Katz-Oz is an Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

i former politician who served as a member of the Knesset from 1977 until 1996, and as Minister of Agriculture

Agriculture Minister of Israel

The Agriculture Minister of Israel is the political head of the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture and a relatively minor position in the Israeli cabinet. Since 1992 the full title of the position has been the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development , the Development Ministry having been...

 from 1988 until 1990.

Biography

Born in Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...

 during the Mandate era, and graduated from Pardes Hanna Agricultural High School

Pardes Hanna Agricultural High School

Pardes Hanna Agricultural High School established in 1935 by the Palestine Farmers Association, is one of the oldest agricultural high school in Israel...

. Katz-Oz studied at the Faculty for Agriculture in Rehovot

Rehovot

Rehovot is a city in the Center District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , at the end of 2009 the city had a total population of 112,700. Rehovot's official website estimates the population at 114,000.Rehovot was built on the site of Doron,...

 and the Faculty for Genetics in Jerusalem. He worked as the agricultural co-ordinator and secretary of kibbutz Nahal Oz

Nahal Oz

Nahal Oz is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located in the northwestern part of the Negev desert close to the border with the Gaza Strip and near the development towns of Sderot and Netivot, it falls under the jurisdiction of Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of...

 and was secretary of Ihud HaKvutzot VeHaKibbutzim between 1969 and 1973.

In 1976 he became chairman of the organisational branch of the Labor Party (then part of the Alignment

Alignment (political party)

The Alignment was an alliance of the major left-wing parties in Israel between the 1960s and 1990s. It was established in 1965 as an alliance of Mapai and Ahdut HaAvoda but was dissolved three years later when the two parties and Rafi formally merged into the Israeli Labor Party...

 alliance), serving until 1978. He was on the alliance's list for the 1977 elections

Israeli legislative election, 1977

The Elections for the ninth Knesset were held on 17 May 1977. For the first time in Israeli political history, the right-wing, led by Likud, won the election, ending almost 30 years of rule by the left-wing Alignment and its predecessor, Mapai...

, but failed to win a seat. However, he entered the Knesset on 18 April the following year as a replacement for Yitzhak Navon

Yitzhak Navon

Yitzhak Navon is an Israeli politician, diplomat, and author. He served as the fifth President of Israel between 1978 and 1982 as a member of the center-left Alignment party...

, following his election

Israeli presidential election, 1978

An election for President of Israel was held in the Knesset in 1978. Ephraim Katzir, who was elected in 1973, declined to stand for a second term due to his wife's illness at the time. Yitzhak Navon ran unopposed for the position....

 to the post of president

President of Israel

The President of the State of Israel is the head of state of Israel. The position is largely an apolitical ceremonial figurehead role, with the real executive power lying in the hands of the Prime Minister. The current president is Shimon Peres who took office on 15 July 2007...

.

He was re-elected in 1981 and 1984, and was appointed Deputy Agriculture Minister in the national unity government

National unity government

A national unity government, government of national unity, or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other national emergency.- Canada :During World War I the Conservative government of Sir...

 formed in 1984. Following the 1988 elections

Israeli legislative election, 1988

Elections for the twelfth Knesset were held in Israel on 1 November 1988. Voter turnout was 79.7%.-Results:1 Five members of the Likud left to form the Party for the Advancement of the Zionist Idea; after two returned, the party was renamed the New Liberal Party...

 he became Minister of Agriculture, serving until the Alignment withdrew from the government in March 1990. He lost his seat in the 1992 election

Israeli legislative election, 1992

Elections for the thirteenth Knesset were held in Israel on 23 June 1992. The result was a victory for the left, led by Yitzhak Rabin's Labor Party, though their win was at least partially due to several small right-wing parties narrowly failing to cross the electoral threshold and thus effectively...

, though he returned to it in July 1995 as a replacement for the deceased Mordechai Gur

Mordechai Gur

Following his retirement from the IDF, Gur was appointed as the general manager of Kur Mechanica company. In 1981 he was elected to the Knesset as a member of the Alignment. Re-elected in 1984, he served as Minister of Health and was also a member of the Knesset's Security and Foreign Affairs...

. However, he resigned his seat in May 1996 and was replaced by Pini Shomer

Pini Shomer

Pini Shomer is an Israeli former politician, who briefly served as a member of the Knesset in 1996.-Biography:A Histadrut manager, Shomer was on the Labor Party list for the 1992 Knesset elections. Although he failed to win a seat, he entered the Knesset on 28 May 1996 as a replacement for Avraham...

.

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