Uri Ariel

Uri Ariel was born in 1952 in Afula

Uri Ariel was born in Afula and grew up on kibbutz Tirat Zvi, which his father helped found. His father was born in Germany and his mother, a Holocaust survivor, was born in Poland. He went to school in Sde Eliyahu.

He joined the IDF in 1971 and served in Palsar 7 of the 7th Armored Brigade. He fought in the Yom Kippur War in northern Sinai and left the army in 1975 as a major.

After the army he settled in Mishor Adumim and later moved to Kfar Adumim with his wife Hagit, whom he married in 1977. He worked in the Amana settlement movement, becoming its director general, and was secretary general of the Yesha Council from 1988 to 1996. He was also the first head of the Beit El local council and a member of the Jewish National Fund directorate.

He entered the Knesset in 2001, replacing the assassinated Rehavam Ze'evi, and later led the Tkuma party. He was named Minister of Construction in 2013 and Minister of Agriculture after the 2015 elections. As agriculture minister he worked on animal welfare laws.

In 2019 Bezalel Smotrich replaced him as Tkuma leader, and he did not run again for the Knesset. He resigned as minister in November 2019 and became chairman of the East Jerusalem Development Company in December 2020. He is married with 6 children.