Education
He studied at a military academy, and worked as an aircraft technician, eventually becoming chairman of the El First Rate (at Lloyd's) workers" union.
He studied at a military academy, and worked as an aircraft technician, eventually becoming chairman of the El First Rate (at Lloyd's) workers" union.
Born in Bombay, India (today Mumbai), Ben-Menachem immigrated to Israel in 1949. In 1988 he was elected to the Knesset on the Alignment list. After being re-elected in 1992 (this time on the Labor Party list), he was appointed Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister" General’ s Office on 4 August 1992.
On 8 April 1993 he became Deputy Minister of Housing and Construction, a post he held until Binyamin Netanyahu formed a Likud-led government in 1996.
Following the 1996 elections, Ben-Menachem became chairman of the committee on Drug Abuse. However, he re-entered the Knesset when Yossi Beilin resigned his seat in November that year.
When Ariel Sharon formed a government of national unity in March 2001, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, serving until Labor withdrew from the coalition in November 2002. He retained his seat in the 2003 elections and became a Deputy Speaker of the Knesset.
During Labor"s stint in the Ariel Sharon government between January and November 2005, Ben-Menachem was re-appointed Deputy Minister of Housing and Construction.
After losing the slot on Labor"s list reserved for the representative of poor neighbourhoods to Yoram Marciano, he left the party and joined Kadima. He lost his seat in the 2006 elections and became head of the Kadima faction in the Histadrut. Ben-Menachem is married with three children, and lives in Tel Aviv.