Stas Misezhnikov
Stas Misezhnikov is an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Yisrael Beiteinu and as the country's Minister of Tourism.
Biography
Born in Moscow in the Soviet Union, Misezhnikov emigrated to Israel on 7 September 1982. He attended high school in Rishon LeZion. After finishing his military service in the Israel Defense Forces, he studied at Tel Aviv University, earning a BA in Social and Political Sciences in 1992 and an MA in Business Administration and Marketing in 2000. Between 1997 and 1999 he worked as a parliamentary aide in the Knesset, and then from 1999 until 2006 as a marketing manager at Clalit.In 2003 he became a member of Rishon LeZion city council, on which he served until 2006. For the 2006 Knesset elections he was placed sixth on the Yisrael Beiteinu list, and became a Knesset member when the party won 11 seats. He retained his seat in the 2009 elections, for which he was placed third on the party's list. Following the election he was appointed Minister of Tourism in Binyamin Netanyahu's government.
The Israeli Embassy in Madrid called his visit to Spain an embarrassment after Misezhnikov allegedly canceled a dinner with business contacts in favor of private partying. Misezhnikov hotly denied the charge, claiming he was stuck at a Holocaust memorial event. There was further controversy in October 2010 when Misezhnikov was accused of politicizing a forthcoming OECD tourism conference in Jerusalem, when he stated that by holding a meeting in Jerusalem, the OECD recognized the city as Israel's capital. The Israeli government intervened and the head of the Knesset Committee on Jerusalem called Misezhnikov as a "diplomatic neophyte".
In the aftermath of the 2012 Burgas bus bombing, Misezhnikov traveled to Bulgaria in an effort to maintain its tourism connections with Israel. He met with Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and President Rosen Plevneliev.
On 4 December 2012, it was announced that Misezhnikov would not be a candidate for the 2013 Knesset elections.
Misezhnikov is married to Hila and is a father of three. He lives in Rishon LeZion.