Ilan Shohat

Ilan Shohat was born in 1974 in Safed

Ilan Shohat was born on 21 September 1974 in the Canaan neighborhood of Safed. His father Yaakov was born in Iran, and his mother Rivka was born in Israel to a family of Tunisian origin. He was named after his aunt Ilana Neeman, who was murdered in the 1974 Maalot attack.

In 2003 he lost a Likud branch primary in Safed and then ran for mayor with an independent list, winning 1 council seat. From 2006 to 2008 he was director general of the Manufacturers Association in the north, and he ran the industry emergency headquarters during the Second Lebanon War. He led the local opposition until 2008.

He was elected mayor of Safed in November 2008 and pushed for a medical school in the Galilee to be built in the city. He joined Yisrael Beiteinu in December 2012 and was re-elected in 2013. In 2015 he was elected to the Knesset but withdrew before it convened in order to stay mayor, and Robert Ilatov replaced him.

He was investigated in 2012 on suspicion of bribery, and the case was closed that year. He was arrested in February 2017 on suspicion of several offenses, and the state prosecution closed that case in August 2018. He lost the mayoral election in October 2018.

He then founded a consulting and development company. From 2021 to 2023 he was director general of the Ministry for the Development of the Periphery, the Negev and the Galilee, and in May 2026 he became director general of the Jewish National Fund. He is divorced, has 3 children, and lives in Safed.