Aharon Abuhatzira ( he, אהרן אבוחצירא, 28 October 1938 – 21 September 2021) was an Israeli politician. After serving as mayor of

Ramla Ramla or Ramle ( he, רַמְלָה, ''Ramlā''; ar, الرملة, ''ar-Ramleh'') is a city in the Central District of Israel. Today, Ramle is one of Israel's mixed cities, with both a significant Jewish and Arab populations. The city was f ...

, he held several ministerial portfolios in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He resigned from the cabinet after being convicted of larceny, breach of trust and fraud.American Jewish Yearbook 1984
p66

Biography

Aharon Abuhatzira was born in the

Tafilalt Tafilalt or Tafilet (; ar, تافيلالت), historically Sijilmasa, is a region and the largest oasis in Morocco. Etymology The word "Tafilalt" is an Amazigh word and it means "Jug", which is specifically a pottery jar used to store water. H ...

region of

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

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 1949. He studied the

Bnei Akiva Bnei Akiva ( he, בְּנֵי עֲקִיבָא, , "Children of Akiva") is the largest religious Zionist youth movement in the world, with over 125,000 members in 42 countries. It was first established in Mandatory Palestine in 1929. History B ...

yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are s ...

Kfar Haroeh Kfar Haroeh ( he, כְּפַר הָרֹאֶ"ה, ''lit.'' Haroeh Village) is a religious moshav in central Israel. Located in the Israeli coastal plain, coastal plain between Hadera and Netanya, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hefer Valley Regi ...

, graduated from a Teachers' Seminary in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

and earned a BA from

Bar-Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, he, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן, ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic i ...

. Before entering politics, he worked as a high school teacher.

Political career

Abuhatzira was elected to Ramla city council in 1969 and became mayor of the city in 1972. 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 ...

in 1977 on the

National Religious Party The National Religious Party ( he, מִפְלָגָה דָּתִית לְאֻומִּית, ''Miflaga Datit Leumit'', commonly known in Israel by its Hebrew acronym Mafdal, ) was a political party in Israel representing the religious Zionist moveme ...

's list, and was appointed Minister of Religions 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 ...

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

. Abuhatzira left the NRP and formed his own party,

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 ...

. The party won three seats in the 1981 elections and was included in Begin's new

. Abuhatzira was appointed both Minister of Immigrant Absorption and Minister of Labor and Social Welfare. Abuhatzira was re-elected in the 1984 elections, but his party won only one seat. Towards the end of the Knesset term he merged the party into

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 ...

, and in the

1988 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1988. Africa * 1988 Cameroonian general election * 1988 Equatorial Guinean legislative election * 1988 Kenyan general election * 1988 Malian parliamentary election * 1988 Rwandan parliamentary elect ...

, won a seat on the Likud list, but failed to retain it in the 1992 vote.

Criminal investigation

In June 1980, the

Israel Police The Israel Police ( he, משטרת ישראל, ''Mišteret Yisra'el''; ar, شرطة إسرائيل, ''Shurtat Isrāʼīl'') is the civilian police force of Israel. As with most other police forces in the world, its duties include crime fightin ...

began investigating claims that Abuhatzira had received 52,500

shekels Shekel or sheqel ( akk, 𒅆𒅗𒇻 ''šiqlu'' or ''siqlu,'' he, שקל, plural he, שקלים or shekels, Phoenician: ) is an ancient Mesopotamian coin, usually of silver. A shekel was first a unit of weight—very roughly —and became c ...

from religious institutions in 1978 and 1979 for giving funds to non-existent

s.Unholy Ministry
Time, 15 December 1980 Although he denied the allegations, stating that they were "provocation and a libel", in December 1980

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

Yitzhak Zamir Yitzhak Zamir (Hebrew: יצחק זמיר) (born in Poland on April 15, 1931) is a professor of public law and Dean of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Faculty of Law, a former Attorney General of Israel, first Dean of the University of Haifa's ...

requested that the Knesset lift Abuhatzira's

parliamentary immunity Parliamentary immunity, also known as legislative immunity, is a system in which politicians such as president, vice president, governor, lieutenant governor, member of parliament, member of legislative assembly, member of legislative council, s ...

so that he could be charged with bribery. On 13 January 1981 the Knesset plenum voted to remove his parliamentary immunity.The Ninth Knesset
Knesset website After being found guilty on 19 April 1982, he resigned from the cabinet on 30 April, after which fellow Tami MK

Aharon Uzan 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 in Tunisia, and was a member of ...

took over his portfolios. He was sentenced to a suspended sentence of four years and three months; thirty months for larceny, eighteen months for breach of trust and fraud by an administrator, and three months for breach of trust by a public servant.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abuhatzira, Aharon 1938 births 2021 deaths Aharon Bar-Ilan University alumni Government ministers of Israel Israeli schoolteachers Israeli politicians convicted of fraud Jewish Israeli politicians Mayors of places in Israel People from Ramla Members of the 8th Knesset (1974–1977) Members of the 9th Knesset (1977–1981) Members of the 10th Knesset (1981–1984) Members of the 11th Knesset (1984–1988) Members of the 12th Knesset (1988–1992) Moroccan emigrants to Israel 20th-century Moroccan Jews National Religious Party politicians People from Tafilalt Tami politicians Israeli politicians convicted of crimes

Biography

Political career

Criminal investigation

See also

References

External links