Dan Illouz

Dan Eliyahu Ya'akov Illouz (Hebrew: דן אליהו יעקב אילוז)^[1] (born 21 February 1986^[2]) is a Canadian-born Israeli politician currently serving as a member of the Knesset for the Likud party since January 2023. Previously, he was a member of the Jerusalem City Council from 2018 to 2021.

Illouz was born to Moroccan Jewish parents in Montreal, Canada.^[3][4] He has a degree in law from McGill University, and a degree in public policy from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.^[5] He moved to Israel from Montreal in 2009, at the age of 23.^[6][7]

Illouz became a member of Hitorerut, a political party in Jerusalem, and became a member of the Jerusalem City Council in March 2018 following the resignation of another councillor.^[8] He was subsequently elected to the council in the October 2018 municipal elections,^[9] and resigned from the council in 2021 as part of a rotation agreement with Yosef Spiezer.^[10] After resigning, Illouz served as the Israeli representative at the Zionist Organization of America.^[11]

In 2022 Illouz decided to seek election to the Knesset as a member of the Likud, participating in primaries held by the party ahead of an upcoming legislative election. Illouz ran for the reserved immigrant spot on the Likud list against then-incumbent MK (and immigrant from Ethiopia) Gadi Yevarkan. Despite the fact that Yevarkan resigned from the Knesset to make himself eligible for the spot (which is reserved for newly incoming members of the Knesset), Illouz narrowly prevailed. The Likud received only 32 seats in the election, so Illouz as 33rd on the party slate did not enter the Knesset immediately.^[12] However, after the swearing-in of the thirty-seventh government of Israel, several Likud ministers resigned their seats under Israel's Norwegian law, and Illouz entered the Knesset on 6 January 2023.^{[6] [13][2]}

In October 2024, Illouz broke ranks with the Likud over proposed legislation to provide government subsidies to Haredi yeshiva students who do not perform military service.^[14] The Likud punished Illouz by removing him from the Knesset's Economic Affairs Committee and Foreign affairs and Defense Committee, and by preventing him from submitting private bills in the Knesset.^[15] The legislation was withdrawn after enough MKs from the coalition, including Illouz, opposed it to the point that the coalition's majority was in doubt.^[16]

Illouz married Bat-El Malka, then Or Akiva's municipal architect, in 2019. In addition to Israeli citizenship, Illouz was previously a Canadian citizen.^[17]

• Dan Illouz on the Knesset website