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Ofir Sofer

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Ofir Sofer
BERJAYA
Sofer in 2023
Ministerial roles
2022–Minister of Aliyah and Integration
Faction represented in the Knesset
2019Union of Right-Wing Parties
2019Yamina
2019–2020Jewish Home–Tkuma
2020–2021Yamina
2021Likud
2021–Religious Zionist Party
Personal details
Born (1975-08-01) 1 August 1975 (age 50)
Alma, Israel

Ofir Sofer (Hebrew: אופיר סופר; born 1 August 1975) is an Israeli politician. He is currently the Minister of Aliyah and Integration and a member of the Knesset for the Religious Zionist Party. Sofer announced in July 2026 that he would not run in the 2026 Israeli legislative election.

Sofer is a former IDF major and is considered a disabled veteran. Afterwards he worked at the Ministry for the Development of the Periphery, the Negev and the Galilee.[1]

Political career

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In 2014, he became secretary general of the Orthodox-nationalist Tkuma party.[2] When the party joined the Union of Right-Wing Parties alliance for the April 2019 Knesset elections, Sofer was placed fourth on the alliances' list, and entered the Knesset when it won five seats.[3] During the 2021 election he ran in Likud list for the Knesset, as a member of Atid Ehad party, using it as a shelf party. On 14 June he split from Likud and merged with the Religious Zionist Party, after the swearing-in of the 36th government.[4][5] The split was not officially approved until 27 June.[6]

Ahead of the 2022 election, Sofer was given the third spot on a joint list between the Religious Zionist Party and Otzma Yehudit,[7] and was re-elected to the Knesset as a result. On 29 December 2022, Sofer was appointed Minister of Aliyah and Integration in the new government.[1]

Sofer announced on 15 July 2026 that he was not running for re-election and would retire from politics, a day after many in his party voted for a bill that ended arrests for Haredim who evaded the draft.[8]

Personal life

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Sofer is married, has 7 children,[9] and lives in Tefahot, a religious moshav in Northern Israel. He is of Tunisian-Jewish descent and his grandfather made his aliyah from Libya.[10]

References

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  1. 1 2 "Ofir Sofer". Knesset. Archived from the original on 14 February 2023. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  2. ↑ "'All cities in the Galilee will become mixed'". Israel National News. 15 July 2018. Archived from the original on 13 April 2019. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  3. ↑ "Here's the Full List of Israeli Lawmakers – and Only a Quarter Are Women". Haaretz. 8 April 2019. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  4. ↑ "Official: Ofir Sofer returns to the Religious Zionist Party". Srugim (in Hebrew). 14 June 2021. Archived from the original on 8 April 2023. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  5. ↑ "Ophir Sofer returns, Yamina waiting for Shai Maimon". Arutz 7 (in Hebrew). 14 June 2021. Archived from the original on 18 January 2024. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  6. ↑ @IsraelexLive (27 June 2021). "Ofir Sofer's request has been approved. He is now a Religious Zionist MK rather than a Likud MK. This reduces the size of the Likud's Knesset faction to 29, and increases the RZP's to 7" (Tweet). Retrieved 28 June 2021 – via Twitter.
  7. ↑ "רשימת הציונות הדתית-עוצמה יהודית לבחירות לכנסת ה-25". www.maariv.co.il (in Hebrew). 31 October 2022. Archived from the original on 12 January 2023. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  8. ↑ "Right-wing minister critical of Haredi draft exemption efforts says won't seek reelection". The Times of Israel. 15 July 2026. Archived from the original on 17 July 2026. Retrieved 17 July 2026.
  9. ↑ Harkov, Lahav (22 April 2019). "Meet the New MK: Ofir Sofer, URP". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  10. ↑ Klein, Zvika (3 February 2023). "Israel wants more Western immigrants - aliyah minister". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 15 April 2026. Retrieved 27 November 2025.
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