Background
The eldest of five boys, Ben-Dahan was born in Casablanca, Morocco, and immigrated to Israel in 1956 at the age of two, his family settling in Beersheba.
politician Rabbi Knesset member
The eldest of five boys, Ben-Dahan was born in Casablanca, Morocco, and immigrated to Israel in 1956 at the age of two, his family settling in Beersheba.
He studied at the Nativ Meir and Mercaz HaRav yeshivas, and is an ordained rabbi.
He was Deputy Minister of Religious Services from 2013 to 2015. In that position, he is responsible for "pre-military training academies, hesder program which combine military service and yeshiva study, military conversion programs, legislation between Israeli law and the military rule in Judea-Samaria, and to deal with public infrastructure in Judea-Samaria."
During his national service in the Israel Defense Forces he became a major in the Artillery Corps. He later went on to gain a teaching certificate, a bachelor"s degree in business administration from Touro College, and a master"s degree in public policy from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
He was ordained by Rabbis Chalom Messas, Avraham Shapira and Mordechai Eliyahu.
In 1978 Ben-Dahan was amongst the founders of the Haspin settlement in the Golan Heights. In 1983 he moved to Beit El settlement in the West Bank after being asked by Mordechai Eliyahu to manage his office.
He became Director-General of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel"s Rabbinical Court system in 1989, holding the post for 21 years. Following the elections he was appointed Deputy Minister of Religious Services in the new government.
He was re-elected in 2015 after being placed fourth on the party"s list again.
He was subsequently appointed Deputy Minister of Defense in the new government. In remarks to graduates of a pre-military academy, Ben-Dahan said, "Your most important task is to increase the spiritual strength and protection of the Israel Defense Forces."
Ben-Dahan has stirred controversy with some of his statements, which were cited after his appointment to administer the Israel Defense Forces"s civil administration in the West Bank, with jurisdiction over Palestinians resident there:
In 2013, while discussing the resumption of peace talks in a radio interview, Ben-Dahan said: "To me, they are like animals, they are not human."
In June 2015, Ben-Dahan also spoke out after a Wall Street Journal report claimed Israel used a computer virus to spy on nuclear negotiations with Iran. "The deputy defense minister called the allegations "nonsense," and assured the interviewer that Israel had other ways of gathering intelligence, and didn’t need to resort to hacking."
In July 2015, after a Palestinian youth was shot dead for throwing stones, Ben-Dahan spoke out in defense of the Israel Defense Forces commander, "Throwing stones is terrorism.
Stones kill.
The Binyamin Brigade commander was acting in self defense.".
He currently serves as a member of the Knesset for the Jewish Home and is the Deputy Minister of Defense. Prior to the 2013 Knesset elections he was placed fourth on the Jewish Home list, entering the Knesset as the party won twelve seats.