Member of Knesset Yohanan Plesner Short Bio  

Yohanan Plesner was born in Jerusalem in 1972. Between 1989 and 1994, he served as a combatant and officer in Sayeret Matkal, the elite reconnaissance unit of the IDF General Staff. After completing his military service, Mr. Plesner attended the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he enrolled in the prestigious Amirim program for outstanding students and obtained a BA with distinction in Economics. Mr. Plesner then spent several years in the business world, first as a consultant to major financial corporations in the UK, and then as co-founder and manager of an international software company. Returning to school, Mr. Plesner went to Harvard, where he obtained an MA in political economy and security studies from the Kennedy School of Government, and spoke regularly on behalf of Israel. Upon his return to Israel, Mr. Plesner assumed the position of Head of Special Projects in the Prime Minister's Office under then PM Ariel Sharon. When the Kadima Party was founded in early 2006, Mr. Plesner was appointed Director General of the nascent party, and led the formation of its organizational infrastructure. In October 2007, Mr. Plesner entered the seventeenth Knesset, where he has served on a number of committees, including the House Committee, the Science and Technology Committee, and the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. During his term in the Knesset, Mr. Plesner has spoken out on issues ranging from personal security and electoral reform to preservation of the environment and excellence in education. He lives in Hod Hasharon with his two daughters, Michaela and Ayala.

 "Heeding the Lessons of Oslo," The Jewish Advocate, 30 April 2004
"The Oslo process taught us that Israel ought to verify before it trusts. The Geneva Accord does not address Oslo's key failure. Namely, it does not offer a mechanism for appropriately examining, verifying, and gradually penalizing non-performance."

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