Aharon Uzan ( he, אהרן אוזן, 1 November 1924 – 23 January 2007) was an Israeli politician who held several ministerial portfolios between the mid-1960s and mid-1980s.

Biography

Uzan was born in

Moknine Moknine ( ar, المكنين) is a town and commune in the Monastir Governorate, Tunisia. See also *List of cities in Tunisia This is the list of 350 cities and towns in Tunisia. In the list by governorate, capitals are shown in bold. Lis ...

in Tunisia, and was a member of the right-wing

Betar The Betar Movement ( he, תנועת בית"ר), also spelled Beitar (), is a Revisionist Zionist youth movement founded in 1923 in Riga, Latvia, by Vladimir (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky. Chapters sprang up across Europe, even during World War II. After t ...

movement in his youth. After attending college in

Sousse Sousse or Soussa ( ar, سوسة, ; Berber:''Susa'') is a city in Tunisia, capital of the Sousse Governorate. Located south of the capital Tunis, the city has 271,428 inhabitants (2014). Sousse is in the central-east of the country, on the Gulf ...

and subsequently moving to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, he made

aliyah Aliyah (, ; he, עֲלִיָּה ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel, which is in the modern era chiefly represented by the Israel, State of Israel ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

in 1949, where he underwent agricultural training and joined the left-wing

Mapai Mapai ( he, מַפָּא"י, an acronym for , ''Mifleget Poalei Eretz Yisrael'', lit. "Workers' Party of the Land of Israel") was a democratic socialist political party in Israel, and was the dominant force in Israeli politics until its merger in ...

party. He was one of the founding members of moshav

Gilat Gilat ( he, גִּילַת, , Joy) is a moshav in southern Israel. Located in the western Negev desert between Beersheba and Ofakim, it falls under the jurisdiction of Merhavim Regional Council. In it had a population of . History The moshav ...

, where he would live for the rest of his life. He served as the moshav's secretary and treasurer between 1952 and 1959. In 1960 he founded the

Negev The Negev or Negeb (; he, הַנֶּגֶב, hanNegév; ar, ٱلنَّقَب, an-Naqab) is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southe ...

Moshav Purchasing Company, and managed it until 1968. He also founded the Negev Water and Merhav transport companies. In 1965 he was elected to the

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

on the Alignment's list (an alliance of Mapai and

Ahdut HaAvoda Ahdut HaAvoda ( he, אַחְדוּת הַעֲבוֹדָה, lit. ''Labour Unity'') was the name used by a series of political parties. Ahdut HaAvoda in its first incarnation was led by David Ben-Gurion. It was first established during the period ...

), and was appointed Deputy

Minister of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

in January 1966, a role he held until he lost his seat in the 1969 elections. In 1970, his son Shlomo, who served in the

Israeli Navy The Israeli Navy ( he, חיל הים הישראלי, ''Ḥeil HaYam HaYisraeli'' (English: The Israeli Sea Corps); ar, البحرية الإسرائيلية) is the naval warfare service arm of the Israel Defense Forces, operating primarily in ...

, was killed in the

War of Attrition The War of Attrition ( ar, حرب الاستنزاف, Ḥarb al-Istinzāf; he, מלחמת ההתשה, Milhemet haHatashah) involved fighting between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and their allies from ...

. The Magen Shlomo Synagogue that was later built in Gilat was named for him. Between 1970 and 1973 he was secretary of the Moshavim Movement. Despite not being a Knesset member, he returned to the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

in 1974 when he was appointed Minister of Communications. After

Golda Meir Golda Meir, ; ar, جولدا مائير, Jūldā Māʾīr., group=nb (born Golda Mabovitch; 3 May 1898 – 8 December 1978) was an Israeli politician, teacher, and ''kibbutznikit'' who served as the fourth prime minister of Israel from 1969 to 1 ...

resigned and

Yitzhak Rabin Yitzhak Rabin (; he, יִצְחָק רַבִּין, ; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77, and from 1992 until h ...

formed a new government later in the year, he became Minister of Agriculture. In March 1975 he regained the Communications portfolio in addition to the Agriculture post. Following

Likud Likud ( he, הַלִּיכּוּד, HaLikud, The Consolidation), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement, is a major centre-right to right-wing political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon ...

's victory in the 1977 elections he lost his cabinet position. In 1981 he left Mapai to found the new

Tami Tami or TAMI may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tami (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with either the given name or nickname * Mark Tami (born 1962), British politician and Member of Parliament * Pierluigi Tami ...

party alongside

Aharon Abuhatzira Aharon Abuhatzira ( he, אהרן אבוחצירא, 28 October 1938 – 21 September 2021) was an Israeli politician. After serving as mayor of Ramla, he held several ministerial portfolios in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He resigned from the ...

. The party won three seats and was included in

Menachem Begin Menachem Begin ( ''Menaḥem Begin'' (); pl, Menachem Begin (Polish documents, 1931–1937); ''Menakhem Volfovich Begin''; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of Israel. B ...

's government. Uzan was made Deputy Minister of Immigrant Absorption in July that year. In May 1982 he became both Minister of Immigrant Absorption and Minister of Labor and Social Welfare after Abuhatzira resigned from both posts following his conviction for larceny, breach of trust and fraud.American Jewish Yearbook 1984
p66 He held both posts until the 1984 elections, in which he lost his seat. Uzan was a member of the executive at

Yad Levi Eshkol Yad Levi Eshkol () is the official non-governmental organization commemorating Israeli prime minister Levi Eshkol. The organization was founded in accordance with a government resolution made in 1970. Yad Levi Eshkol is carrying public activities ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Uzan, Aharon 1924 births 2007 deaths Tunisian Jews Moshavim movement secretaries Tami politicians Alignment (Israel) politicians Israeli Labor Party politicians Tunisian emigrants to Israel Members of the 6th Knesset (1965–1969) Members of the 10th Knesset (1981–1984) Deputy ministers of Israel Ministers of Agriculture of Israel Ministers of Communications of Israel Tunisian expatriates in France