Naomi Blumenthal

(1943 - )

Naomi Blumenthal is a former Israeli politician whose career was cut short due to a conviction on charges of corruption.

Blumenthal (born November 22, 1943) was born in Bitzaron, in pre-State Israel and served in the Nahal Brigade of the Israel Defense Forces. She holds a B.A. degree in Political Science and Criminology from Bar-Ilan University and is a Graduate of the Beit-Zvi School of Art in Ramat-Gan.

Blumenthal has served as Chairperson of "Al-Sam" the Israeli anti-drug abuse association) and of the Political Center - Israel Women's Network. She was a member of the Israeli delegation to the United Nations Conference on the Status of Woman (1989, 1990, 1991 and 1995 in Beijing) and one of the Founders of the Beer-Sheva Theatre.

Naomi Blumenthal has been a Member of Knesset since 1992. She has served as Chairperson of the Committee for the Advancement of the Status of Women, the Immigration and Absorption Committee, and the Israel-Germany Parliamentary Friendship League. She has been a member of various Knesset committees, among them Labor and Welfare, Internal Affairs and Environment, Anti-Drug Abuse Committee, and Scientific and Technological Research and Development.

In March 2001, Naomi Blumenthal was appointed Deputy Minister of National Infrastructures by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon; she stepped down from this position in January 2003.

In 2003, Blumenthal was re-elected to the Knesset but it later emerged that she had bribed 15 Likud activists and central committee members during the party primaries in December 2003 by hosting them in a hotel in Ramat Gan; the episode became known in Israel as the "Sheraton City Tower Affair". In 2006, she was sentenced to eight months in prison and a fine of 75,000 shekel for the corruption charges. Her prison sentence was commuted by Israeli President Shimon Peres to community service.

She is married and has three children.

Sources: Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Wikipedia