JERUSALEM (JTA) — Hanan Porat, a former Israeli lawmaker and a leader of the Modern Orthodox movement, has died.
Porat died Tuesday at his home in Kfar Etzion following a long battle with cancer. He was 67.
He was a founder of Gush Emunim, which is committed to building West Bank settlements, and of the Tehiya Party.
Porat was a member of Knesset twice, from 1981 to 1984 from the Tehiya Party, and from 1988 to 1999 with the National Religious Party.
He taught in several Modern Orthodox yeshivas, including Yeshivat Har Etzion, Yeshivat Hakibbutz Hadati in Ein Tzurim, and the Beit Orot yeshiva in Jerusalem.
Porat took part in the liberation of Jerusalem in the Six-Day War in 1967 and fought in the Suez Canal in the Yom Kippur War in 1973.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his sorrow over Porat’s death.
"Hanan Porat dedicated his life to building up the Land of Israel, and to educating generations of students about religious Zionism and loving the Land of Israel and the Jewish People," Netanyahu said in a statement.
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