Gonen Segev

Gonen Segev
Date of birth	(1956-01-06) 6 January 1956
Place of birth	Kiryat Motzkin, Israel
Knessets	13
Faction represented in Knesset
1992–1994	Tzomet
1994–1996	Yiud
Ministerial roles
1995–1996	Minister of Energy & Infrastructure

Gonen Segev (Hebrew: גונן שגב‎, born 6 January 1956) in Kiryat Motzkin is a former Israeli member of Knesset and government minister and pediatrician who was convicted for an attempt of drug smuggling, for forgery and electronic commerce fraud.

Segev graduated with an M.D. from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. He served in the IDF, where he made it to the rank of captain. He later worked as a private doctor and as a farmer in Tel Adashim.

Political career

In the early 1990s Segev was active in the Tzomet party founded by Rafael Eitan. In 1992 he was elected to the thirteenth Kenesset, after Tzomet had won eight seats. As the Labor Party was the largest party in these elections it formed the government and the right-wing Tzomet party remained in the opposition. Segev served as an opposition MK and a member of the Knesset's Finance Committee.

On 7 February 1994 Tzomet MKs Segev, Esther Salmovitz, and Alex Goldfarb split from their party to form the Yiud faction. On 9 January 1995 Segev became Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, after Yiud joined Yitzhak Rabin's government. Segev held the same minister post again from 22 November 1995 to 18 June 1996 in the government that Shimon Peres formed shortly after Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated. His vote was vital in passing the Oslo Accords in the Knesset.

Business and crime

After his political career Segev focused on a business career. In April 2004 Segev was arrested for attempting to smuggle thousands of ecstasy tablets from Amsterdam to Israel that he claimed that he thought were M&M's. His diplomatic passport was illegally extended with pencil. He was convicted in a pleading deal for forgery and attempted drug smuggling and sentenced to five years imprisonment. In addition he had pulled money from an automated teller machine in Hong Kong, while claiming that his card was stolen. His image however was filmed at the machine. In August 2006 an Israeli court rejected his appeal for shortening his prison term. In March 2007 his medical license was indefinitely revoked.

See also

• List of Israeli public officials convicted of crimes or misdemeanors

External links

• Gonen Segev on the Knesset website