Ze'ev Elkin
Ze’ev Elkin, born Vladimir Borisovich Elkin on 3 April 1971 in Kharkiv, Ukraine, is an Israeli politician and current member of the Knesset for the New Hope party. He has previously represented Kadima and Likud in the Knesset and has held several ministerial roles, including Minister of Immigrant Absorption, Minister of Jerusalem Affairs, Minister of Environmental Protection, Minister of Higher Education, Minister of Water Resources, and Minister of Housing & Construction.
Elkin and his family immigrated to Israel in 1990. He studied mathematics at Kharkiv University and earned BA and MA degrees in history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1994. He also studied at Yeshivat Har Etzion and was involved in Jewish education, including leading the Soviet Union branch of Bnei Akiva before moving into politics.
He was elected to the Knesset in 2006 with Kadima. In 2008 he switched to Likud. He served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (2013–2014) and chaired the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. In 2015 he became Minister of Immigrant Absorption and briefly held the post of Minister of Strategic Affairs. In 2016 he was appointed Minister of Environmental Protection, a position he held until 2020. He ran for Jerusalem mayor in 2018 but was eliminated in the first round.
In 2020 he became Minister of Higher Education and Minister of Water Resources. He left Likud and joined Gideon Sa’ar’s New Hope party in December 2020. He returned to the Knesset after the March 2021 elections and served as Minister of Jerusalem Affairs and Minister of Housing & Construction in the new government, resigning from the Knesset under the Norwegian Law. Elkin is fluent in Russian and has often acted as an interpreter for Israeli leaders meeting Vladimir Putin. He is married with five children.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 11:41 (CET).