Yitzchok Katz
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His Excellency President Yitzchok Katz | |
|---|---|
 Official presidential portrait. | |
| President of Yisrael | |
| Assumed office February 3rd, 2020 | |
| Monarch | Hezekiah III (2020-present) |
| Preceded by | Noah Feldman |
| Foreign Minister of Yisrael | |
| In office January 3rd, 2015 – February 3rd, 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Ozriel Kominsky |
| Succeeded by | Ariel Goldblatt |
| Member of Knesset (TA-Yerushalayim) | |
| In office January 6th, 2004 – January 3rd, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Moshe Yaakov Zelikovich |
| Succeeded by | Chanoch Horowitz |
| Yerushalayim City Council, District 16 | |
| In office January 24th, 1994 – January 3rd, 2004 | |
| Preceded by | Nasan Ever |
| Succeeded by | Iyov Gotenberg |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 27th, 1967 Yerushalayim, Yerushalayim District |
| Nationality | Yisraeli |
| Political party | Royalist Conservative Party (2019-present) Torah Achdus (1980-2019) |
| Spouse | Ruchel Emunah (née Eisenberger) |
| Residence(s) | Yerushalayim, Yisrael |
| Alma mater | B.T.L., Mir Yeshiva, J.D., King David University School of Law |
| Profession | Politician, Lawyer, Civil servant, Functionary |
Yitzchok L. Katz (born March 27th, 1967), is a prominent Yisraeli politician who is the current President of Yisrael. He has served previously as Foreign Minister, a Member of Knesset, and in local office. He was a longtime member of the Torah Achdus party, before joining the Royalist Conservatives in advance of running in their 2020 primary for President.
He attended the most prestigious yeshiva in the world, and later served his national service year interning with the Royal Yisraeli Intelligence Service. Afterwards, he attended law school and became a civil servant. Within a few years, he ran for public office, becoming elected to Yerushalayim's City Council in a major Chareidi neighborhood.
A decade later, he ran and won a Knesset seat, which he held for 11 years. During this time, his political star rose and he became a major power-broker in the Torah Achdus party, eventually directly participating in its 2009 New Chareidi coup and realigning the third-party towards the Conservatives. In early 2015, Ozriel Kominsky resigned in scandal as Foreign Minister towards the end of the first Feldman term. In a "rightward move" to shore up his right flank ahead of the 2016 elections, Noah Feldman picked Katz as Kominsky's successor. In the Cabinet role, Feldman and Katz grew close, and eventually Feldman positioned the other as his heir-in-waiting. As part of this effort, Feldman convinced Katz to party switch, which he did after receiving Torah Achdus leader Moshe Lippman's blessing.
Katz ran as the front-runner in the 2020 Conservative primary, scaring off potential major opponents such as then-Yerushalayim Mayor David Roth and then-Vice-President Yisroel Sayegh. After winning the Conservative nod, Katz faced off initially against Constitutional Liberal Party nominee Yosef Kaduri, a left-wing firebrand. As he began pulling ahead of Kaduri, a centrist revolt by Con-Lib rising star Reuven Goldschmidt fractured the Left Bloc in two, as well as reordering Katz's coalition with the loss of Action Yisrael to Goldschmidt's AfY.
Katz won a decisive Electoral College victory and became President of Yisrael. Early in his term, he has confronted the the growing crisis in Gran Aligonia as well as guiding stronger, growing ties with Latium and managing the sudden Hezekian Reaction.
Early life and education
Katz was born on March 27, 1967 (Shushan Purim), to businessman Shmuel Avrohom and Shandie Katz (neé Rothman) in the Ovadia Yosef Memorial Hospital in Yerushalayim, Yerushalayim District, Yisrael. He was one of nine children, being the first son. He was born on Shushan Purim, a particularly fortuitous time in the Jewish calendar, as well as being one of the first generation of children born after the Fourth West Scipian War. His father had been called up from the reserves for the Royal Yisraeli Defense Forces during the war.
He was raised in a series of Chareidi neighborhoods in the capital city, first in Kiryas Moshe, and then in middle-school his family settled in Har Nof. He graduated top of his day school and yeshiva high school, before going to learn in the famed Mir Yeshiva in the Old City.
Like many Chareidim, he opted for a non-military track for his year national service, choosing to intern in the signals intelligence division of the RYIS. Afterwards, he applied and joined law school.
While at the Mir, he used a shadchan to begin dating, and was introduced to Ruchel Emunah Eisenberger after 6 months. Then dated and were engaged in twelve weeks, and were married in 1988.
After law school, he became a public prosecutor in the Yerushalayim city government, a position he held for a few years before he ran for City Council.
Political career
Yerushalayim City Council (1994-2004)
Member of Knesset (2004-2015)
Political campaigns
Political views
Foreign Minister (2015-2020)
List of foreign crises
2016 Latin succession crisis
2017-2018 Sydalene Revolution
2018 Midnight Affair
2019-2020 protests in Gran Aligonia
President of Yisrael
2020 campaign
Conservative Party primary
General election
Political positions
Domestic policy
Foreign Policy
Gran Aligonian crisis (2019-present)
Early moves
Leaked Sion call
Strengthening of ties to Latium
Political views
He is considered an ideological "happy warrior" and man of principles, shunning moderation for convenience's sake or pragmatic centrism instead to create substantial public policy changes.
He was an early political figure in what would become the "New Chareidi" clique inside the Torah Achdus party that pushed it to abandon its non-ideological benefits/transactional political grouping and focus on an alliance with similar parties such as the Conservatives.
He is a friend and leading ally to former President Noah Feldman. Along with Feldman, Katz advocated what has become known as Neoconservatism, successfully fusing the political and religious right together under the Conservatives to establish a stable governing majority.
Personal life and family
Katz is married to Ruchel Emunah (née Eisenberger) since 1988. They have 6 children (by order of age): Moshe Yehuda (age 31), Baila Esther (age 30), Aryeh Osher (age 28), Penina Leah (age 25), Avrohom Yosef (age 23), and Gershon Hillel (age 17).
They consider themselves part of the "baalebastish" Chareidim who socialize often in Chardal circles. They reside in Yerushalayim, alternating between the Presidential Palace and their home in the Har Nof neighborhood.
Katz speaks four languages fluently: his native Modern Hebrew and Anglic, along with Standard Latin and Yiddish.