24 Facts About Avraham Burg

Avraham "Avrum" Burg is an Israeli author, politician and businessman.

Avraham Burg was a member of the Knesset, chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, Speaker of the Knesset, and Interim President of Israel.

Avraham Burg was the first Speaker of the Knesset to have been born in Israel after its declaration of independence in 1948.

Avraham Burg is in favor of Israel negotiating with Hamas, and has called to abandon Herzelian Zionism in favor of a form of Cultural Zionism, citing the civic nationalism of France as an example to follow.

Avraham Burg was born and raised in Jerusalem's Rehavia neighborhood.

Avraham Burg's father was Dr Yosef Burg, a German-born Israeli politician and longtime government minister for the National Religious Party.

Avraham Burg's mother was Rivka who was born in Hebron and a survivor of the 1929 Hebron massacre.

Avraham Burg graduated from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem with a degree in the social sciences.

Avraham Burg was an activist in left-wing organizations and the Peace Now movement.

Avraham Burg was injured in the grenade attack on a Peace Now demonstration in Jerusalem in February 1983 which killed Emil Grunzweig.

In 1999, Avraham Burg returned to domestic politics, and was elected to the Knesset on Ehud Barak's One Israel list.

Avraham Burg called for cancellation of this second vote, a move supported by Labor Party chairman Ra'anan Cohen.

Nevertheless, Avraham Burg retained his seat in the Knesset in the 2003 elections.

In 2004, Avraham Burg resigned from the Knesset and public life.

In 2007, a Avraham Burg-led consortium won the rights to purchase Ashot Ashkelon Industries, but the sale was cancelled by the Israeli government.

Avraham Burg has lectured at international events and served on the board of directors of Vita Pri Hagalil.

Avraham Burg was embroiled in a controversy over an "alleged missing 270,000,000 New Israel Shekels," money lent to Vita Pri Hagalil.

Avraham Burg referred to the banks involved as being "hypocritical" since according to Avraham Burg, the banks had received substantial interest payments on the loan.

In 2007, Avraham Burg published a book called Defeating Hitler in which he claimed that Israeli society is fascist and violent by the continuing trauma over the Holocaust.

In 2011, Avraham Burg wrote an op-ed in Haaretz claiming that there was a reasonable chance of a one-state solution coming to pass.

In 2012, Avraham Burg endorsed a boycott of Israeli settlement products and said that he personally boycotts all products produced in the settlements and does not cross the Green Line.

Avraham Burg joined the leftist Jewish-Arab Hadash Party in January 2015.

Avraham Burg stated that Israel's future was a choice between becoming a fundamentalist Jewish state or as a binational Jewish-Arab confederation with open borders and part of a regional union.

Avraham Burg has been a devoted athlete, running marathons and participating in a few ironmen competitions.