Rafael "Rafi" Suissa ( he, רפאל "רפי" סוויסה, 5 January 1935 – 4 March 2024) was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for the

Alignment Alignment may refer to: Archaeology * Alignment (archaeology), a co-linear arrangement of features or structures with external landmarks * Stone alignment, a linear arrangement of upright, parallel megalithic standing stones Biology * Structu ...

between 1981 and 1984, and as mayor of Mazkeret Batya on three occasions.

Biography

Born in

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

in Morocco in 1935, Suissa 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 ...

to Israel in 1950 and was amongst the founders of

moshav A moshav ( he, מוֹשָׁב, plural ', lit. ''settlement, village'') is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 an ...

Komemiyut Komemiyut ( he, קוֹמְמִיּוּת, lit="sovereignty") is an Hasidic moshav in south-central Israel. Located in the southern Shephelah near Kiryat Gat, it falls under the jurisdiction of Shafir Regional Council. In it had a population of . ...

. He served in the

IDF IDF or idf may refer to: Defence forces * Irish Defence Forces * Israel Defense Forces *Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006 * Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917 Organizations * Israeli Diving Federation * Interac ...

and was injured during the

Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...

. Between 1950 and 1960 he worked as director of an unemployment office in Yavne, and as for

Amidar ''Amidar'' is a video game developed by Konami and released in arcades in 1981 by Stern. The format is similar to that of ''Pac-Man'': the player moves around a fixed rectilinear lattice, attempting to visit each location on the board while a ...

between 1950 and 1956. In 1956 he moved to Mazkeret Batya, and in 1965 was elected onto its local council, holding the posts of director of the labor department, secretary and treasurer. During 1969 he served as mayor. After the formation of the Labor Party by a merger of Mapai, Rafi and Ahdut HaAvoda, Suissa became a member of its secretariat and central committee, and chaired its Judea branch. He was elected to the Knesset on the Alignment list (an alliance of the Labor Party and

Mapam Mapam ( he, מַפָּ״ם, an acronym for , ) was a left-wing political party in Israel. The party is one of the ancestors of the modern-day Meretz party. History Mapam was formed by a January 1948 merger of the kibbutz-based Hashomer Hatz ...

) in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

and sat on the Internal Affairs and Environment Committee until losing his seat in the 1984 elections. He also served as mayor of Mazkeret Batya again between 1982 and 1984. Between 1984 and 1986 he worked as Commissioner of the Israel Prison Service, and also founded the Association to Rehabilitate Prisoners. In the 1988 Knesset elections he headed a party named the Movement for Social Justice, but it won only 3,222 votes (0.1%) and failed to cross the electoral threshold. He became mayor of Mazkeret Batya again in 1993, holding the post until 2003. He later joined Kadima, and was placed 113th on its list in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

and 115th in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

. He remained a member of Mazkeret Batya council for several years. He died in March 2024 aged 89.

References

External links

* {{authority control 1935 births 2024 deaths Politicians from Casablanca 20th-century Moroccan Jews Moroccan emigrants to Israel Israeli people of Moroccan-Jewish descent Mayors of local councils in Israel Israeli civil servants Israeli Labor Party politicians Alignment (Israel) politicians Kadima politicians Members of the 10th Knesset (1981–1984)