Ahmed Dabbah (Arabic: احْمَد ذَبّاح, Hebrew: אחמד דבאח; born 27 January 1955) is an Israeli Arab politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Kadima between 2012 and 2013, the party's first non-Druze Arab MK.[1] He also served as mayor of Deir al-Asad and the now-dissolved city of Shaghur.[1]
Biography
Dabbah started his career as a primary school teacher, before becoming the owner and CEO of "Saleh Dabbah and Sons", a business conglomerate including supermarkets and a slaughterhouse,[1] as well as establishing the Dabbah shopping mall in Deir al-Asad. He has nine children.[1]
Political career
In 1992 he joined Likud, but transferred to Kadima after it was founded in 2005,[1] becoming one of its leading activists.[2] Although he was given a high placing by Ariel Sharon on the party's original list for the 2006 Knesset elections,[1] he was ultimately placed only 51st on the final list,[3] and failed to win a seat as the party won only 29. He was placed 36th on the party's list for the 2009 elections,[4] but again failed to win a seat as the party won only 28 seats.
Dabbah has been the mayor of Deir-el-Asad, as well as the head of the Shagur Local Council. As mayor of Deir-el-Asad, Dabbah helped Shaul Mofaz gain votes among the Arab-Israeli public,[5] who was running to replace Tzipi Livni as leader of Kadima. Dabbah helped bring 1,121 votes from his town of Deir-el-Asad for Shaul Mofaz, which totals more votes than both Mofaz's and Livni's combined votes from Tel Aviv, which numbered 1,112. Dabbah has said that he is a public figure that the public trusts, and objects to being called a "vote contractor."[6]
Dabbah was sworn into the Knesset on 16 August 2012 as a replacement for Avi Dichter,[7][8] who had resigned his seat on 14 August after leaving the party in order to join the Netanyahu government as an independent.[2] This took the number of Arab members of the Knesset to 17, a record.[1]
Placed ninth on the Kadima list for the 2013 elections,[9] he lost his seat as the party were reduced to two MKs.
References
External links
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