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Nissim Vaturi
Nissim Vaturi
	Vaturi in 2020
Faction represented in the Knesset
2020–2021	Likud
2022–	Likud
Personal details
Born	23 October 1969 (age 55); Rishon LeZion, Israel

Nissim Vaturi (Hebrew: ניסים ואטורי, born 23 October 1969) is an Israeli politician. He has served as a member of the Knesset for Likud since 2022, having previously served between 2020 and 2021.

Private life and education

Born in Rishon LeZion, Vaturi grew up in the Ramat Eliyahu neighborhood of the city. During his youth he was a member of the Rishon branch of the Betar youth movement, where he was a cadet of Likud member David Bitan.

During his national service in the Israel Defense Forces he commanded an Israeli Air Force aircraft recovery team. He married a teacher, with whom he had seven children. The family moved to Alonei HaBashan in the Golan Heights in 2001 and he ran a cafe in Katzrin, but declared bankruptcy in 2015.^[1]

He received a correspondence doctorate from the International University of Business and Law [uk] in Kherson, Ukraine in 2008, but the qualification is not recognised in Israel.^[1]

Political career

Vaturi worked as a political advisor to David Bitan.^[2] He was placed thirty-seventh on the Likud list for the April 2019 elections,^[3] but the party won only 35 seats. He was placed fortieth for the September 2019 elections,^[4] in which Likud won 32 seats.

Although he missed out again in the March 2020 elections, in which he was placed fortieth and Likud won 36 seats, he entered the Knesset on 11 December 2020 as a replacement for Gideon Sa'ar, who resigned after leaving Likud to establish his own party.^[2] Placed thirty-seventh on the Likud list for the March 2021 elections, he lost his seat as Likud was reduced to 30 seats. For the 2022 elections, he was placed twenty-first on Likud's list.^[5] However, he was accused of manipulating his residential address to secure a more favorable position on the list during the primaries. He had initially run as a representative of regional councils but later changed his registered address to the local council of Katzrin, which falls under a different electoral district. This change enabled him to secure the 21st place on the list, as opposed to the 41st place he would have held as a representative of regional councils. Critics within Likud alleged that Vaturi did not genuinely reside in Katzrin and only changed his address for electoral purposes. Although the Likud court dismissed a petition against Vaturi on technical grounds, a police complaint was filed accusing him of submitting a false declaration and fraudulently obtaining a position.^[6] He was subsequently elected to the Knesset again, as Likud won thirty-two seats.^[7]

Controversies

In 2022 Vaturi's name was found on a construction project in Tel Aviv,^[8] when he was listed as the executing contractor for a recently-started project on Basel Street in the city. The real estate developer explained that they were paying the Knesset member for the use of his construction license. However, officials from the Ministry of Construction and Housing emphasized that a contractor was not allowed to let others use their license. Additionally, serving Knesset members are prohibited from engaging in additional work. Vaturi refused to comment.^[8]

In 2023 Vaturi claimed that some parents who support "LGBTQ values" are giving their boys dolls to play with to encourage them to be gay.^[9] He was condemned by members of his own family.^[10]

In November 2023, after the Hamas-led attack and during the ensuing war, Vaturi said that Israel had been "too humane"^{[citation needed]} in the Gaza Strip and should instead "burn Gaza".^[11] He later claimed to have meant only the terrorists; he did not, however, say 'terrorists' in the tweet or the interview.^[11] Vaturi also called on Israel to block water "until the hostages are returned".^[12] Vaturi has said of the war "We were meant to fight this war against Hamas, as is happening now, and luckily for us it came from the heavens".^[13]

In January 2024, Vaturi repeated in an interview that "Gaza must be burned", adding that "It is better to burn down buildings rather than have soldiers harmed. There are no innocents there."^[14]^[15] He added that after the forced displacement of innocent civilians, "one hundred thousand remain. I have no mercy for those who are still there. We need to eliminate them."^[15] He also wrote that Israelis had one common goal which was "erasing the Gaza Strip from the face of the earth".^[16]

On 19 June 2024 Vaturi said anti-government protesters were a 'branch of Hamas'.^[17]^[18]

In July 2024, after the Israeli military police visited Sde Teiman detention camp to detain nine Israeli soldiers suspected of abuse of a Palestinian prisoner, Vaturi joined other right-wingers in illegally invading the Sde Teiman detention camp.^[19]