Cohen, Raanan (1941–)

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COHEN, RAANAN (1941–)

Former Knesset member and minister of labor and social welfare. Born in 1941 in Iraq, Raanan Cohen immigrated to Israel in 1951. He received a doctoral degree in Middle Eastern studies from Tel Aviv University and was secretary of the Young Guard of the Labor Party in Bʾnei Brak from 1961 to 1970. He later served as chairman of the Arab and Druze Branch of the Labor Party (1975–1986) and as chairman of the Elections Branch of the Labor Party (1986–1992). First elected to the Knesset in 1988, Cohen served on the Finance, Foreign Affairs and Defense, and State Control committees, and he was secretary-general of the Israel Labor Party from 1998 until 2002. In August 2000 Cohen was appointed as minister of labor and social welfare, then in March 2001 as minister without portfolio. He resigned from that post and from the Knesset in August 2002.