COHEN, RAN

(1937- )

Born inIraq, he immigrated (see ALIYA) to Israel in 1950. He is chairman of the Beit Or Aviova Organization for the rehabilitation of drug users. First elected to theKnessetin 1984 on theCitizens' Rights and Peace Movement(CRM) list, he became a member of the CRM executive committee and chairman of the party's faction in theHistadrut. He served as deputy minister of construction and housing from June 1992 to January 1993. On 17 May 1999, he was reelected to the 15th Knesset on theMeretzlist and was appointed minister ofindustryand trade in the government headed byEhud Barak. Reelected to the 16th Knesset on the Meretz list in 2003, he was defeated byJoseph(Yossi)Beilinin a one-on-one race for leadership of the reconfiguredYahad-Social Democratic Israelparty that was formed out of Meretz in May 2004. He was reelected to the Knesset in March 2006.