Yehiel Lasri ( he, יחיאל לסרי; born 21 August 1957) is an Israeli physician and politician who serves as mayor of

Ashdod Ashdod ( he, ''ʾašdōḏ''; ar, أسدود or إسدود ''ʾisdūd'' or '' ʾasdūd'' ; Philistine: 𐤀𐤔𐤃𐤃 *''ʾašdūd'') is the sixth-largest city in Israel. Located in the country's Southern District, it lies on the Mediterran ...

.Lasri: A new sun will shine on the city
Ynet, 11 November 2008 He previously served as a member of 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 ...

for the Centre Party,

Lev Lev may refer to: Common uses *Bulgarian lev, the currency of Bulgaria *an abbreviation for Leviticus, the third book of the Hebrew Bible and the Torah People and fictional characters *Lev (given name) *Lev (surname) Places *Lev, Azerbaijan, a ...

and

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 ...

Biography

Lasri was born in Morocco to a Jewish family, one of five children, and 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 1963 at the age of six, when his family moved to

. While growing up, he lost his father, and his illiterate mother washed floors to support her children. He was allowed to postpone military conscription to the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

to study as part of the

Atuda Atuda, or Academic Atuda ( he, עתודה אקדמית, literally: Academic Reserve), is a program of the Israeli Defense Forces which enables high school graduates to defer the draft and attend university prior to their military service. After th ...

program. He studied medicine at

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) ( he, אוניברסיטת בן-גוריון בנגב, ''Universitat Ben-Guriyon baNegev'') is a public research university in Beersheba, Israel. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has five campuses: the ...

. After completing his medical studies in 1982, he interned in the Department of Internal Medicine at

Kaplan Medical Center Kaplan Medical Center ( he, מרכז רפואי קפלן, ''Merkaz Refu'i Kaplan'') is a hospital in Rehovot, Israel, located in the south of the city next to Bilu Junction. It is owned and operated by Clalit Health Services. History Kaplan Medica ...

Rehovot Rehovot ( he, רְחוֹבוֹת ''Rəḥōvōt'', ar, رحوڤوت ''Reḥūfūt'') is a city in the Central District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. In it had a population of . Etymology Israel Belkind, founder of the Bilu movement, ...

. He began his military service as a battalion surgeon in the

Combat Engineering Corps The Israeli Combat Engineering Corps ( he, חיל ההנדסה הקרבית, ''Heil HaHandasa HaKravit'') is the combat engineering forces of the Israel Defense Forces. The Combat Engineering Corps beret's color is silver and its symbol feature ...

before being transferred to 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 ...

, where he filled a variety of medical positions. He eventually rose to become Surgeon-General of the Israeli Navy, and left the IDF with the rank of

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

. After his discharge from the IDF, he worked as an internal medicine specialist. He was Deputy Director of the Department of Internal Medicine at Kaplan Medical Center. He specialized in treating

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

and served as Acting Director of the Kaplan Medical Center AIDS Institute. Away from his job, he was one of the founders of the Israeli Andalusia Orchestra in 1994, and a director on its board. In 1998, he was elected to Ashdod city council on the New Ashdod list. For the 1999 Knesset elections he was placed ninth on the Centre Party list. Although the party won only six seats, Lasri entered the Knesset on 28 March 2001 as a replacement for

Yitzhak Mordechai Yitzhak "Itzik" Mordechai ( he, יצחק מרדכי, born 22 November 1944) is an Israeli former general and politician. He served as a member of the Knesset between 1996 and 2001, and as Minister of Defense and Minister of Transport. He retired ...

. On 6 November 2002, he and

Roni Milo Roni Milo ( he, רוני מילוא, born 26 November 1949) is an Israeli politician, lawyer and journalist, and a former Knesset member who held several ministerial positions. He was also mayor of Tel Aviv from 1993 to 1998. Political career B ...

left the party and established the

faction, which immediately merged into Likud. After being placed 53rd on Likud's list,Police probe Likud members about alleged corruption in primary race
The Jerusalem Post, 17 December 2002 Lasri lost his seat in the 2003 elections, and returned to Ashdod city council, where he was elected mayor in 2008. In 2016, he received an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from

IDC Herzliya Reichman University ( he, אוניברסיטת רייכמן) is Israel's only private university, located in Herzliya, Tel Aviv District. It was founded in 1994 as the IDC Herzliya private college, before being rebranded in 2021. It receives no ...

. Lasri has three children from his first wife, Miriam, an educator by profession who died in 2010. He married Iyrit Alexenberg in 2017.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lasri, Yehiel 1957 births 20th-century Moroccan Jews Moroccan emigrants to Israel People from Ashdod Ben-Gurion University of the Negev alumni Mayors of places in Israel Living people Likud politicians Centre Party (Israel) politicians Lev (political party) politicians Israeli military doctors Members of the 15th Knesset (1999–2003)