Israelis You Should Know: Gideon Sa’ar

The Fellowship  |  December 16, 2016

Name: Gideon Sa’ar

Age: 50

Known for: Sa’ar is an Israeli politician who served in the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) from 2003 to 2014 and also held the positions of Education Minister and Minister of the Interior.

About him: Born in 1966 in Tel Aviv, Gideon Sa’ar grew up with ties to Israel’s founding fathers – his own father was the personal physician of David Ben-Gurion. Sa’ar served in the IDF, then studied political science at Tel Aviv University, where he also received his law degree. As a lawyer, he was aide to Israel’s Attorney General from 1995 to 1997, and then aid to the State Attorney until 1998.

Sa’ar began his political career the following year, working as a secretary to the cabinet in 1999 and from 2001-2002 for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. In 2003, Sa’ar won a seat in the Knesset, with Likud, Benjamin Netanyahu’s party. Sa’ar served in the Knesset, and in other important posts in the Israeli government, until he resigned in 2014, taking a hiatus from politics. The father of three, he is married to Israeli news anchor Geula Even.

During his political career, Gideon Sa’ar was part of many important initiatives, including opposing Israel’s unilateral disengagement plan and proposing a bill to jail employers that fired pregnant women (while chairing the Knesset’s Committee on the Status of Women).