Yaakov Litzman
Yaakov Litzman
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Yaakov Litzman

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Yaakov Litzman

Yaakov Noach Litzman (Hebrew: יַעֲקֹב נָח לִיצְמָן; born 2 September 1948) is an American-born Israeli former politician and government minister. A follower of the Ger Hasidic dynasty, he headed Agudat Yisrael, part of the United Torah Judaism alliance, in the Knesset. He previously served as Minister of Health and Minister of Housing and Construction. He was a Member of Knesset from 1999–2022.

Litzman was born to Lithuanian Jewish Holocaust survivors from Poland, in a displaced persons camp in Allied-occupied Germany. When he was two years old, the family immigrated to the United States, settling in Brooklyn, first in the East New York section and then to the Borough Park, where he grew up. In 1966, at age 17, he immigrated to Israel, and continued his Torah studies.

Litzman is married, has five children, and lives in Jerusalem.

His first job was as principal of the Hasidic Beis Yaakov girls' school in Jerusalem.

Litzman became active in politics under the guidance of the then-Gerrer Rebbe, Rabbi Simcha Binem Alter. Over time, Litzman became known as the rebbe's right-hand man, a role he continues under the present Gerrer Rebbe, Rabbi Yaakov Arye Alter.

Litzman was an assistant to the Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Welfare, Moshe Ze'ev Feldman until 1989. He was also an advisor to Member of Knesset Avraham Yosef Shapira.

In 1999 he joined the Agudat Yisrael faction of the United Torah Judaism list for the Knesset elections that year. He was subsequently elected, and became Chairman of the Finance Committee.

In the years 2001-2003 and again in the years 2005-2007, he served as the chairman of the Knesset Finance Committee. During his tenure, he initiated several laws, including the Law on Unique Cultural Educational Institutions and the law granting exemption to synagogues, mosques, churches and khalwats from paying lease fees to the Israel Land Administration.

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