Avraham Hirschson ( he, אברהם הירשזון; 11 February 1941 – 7 March 2022) was an Israeli politician. He served as a member of the Knesset for Likud and Kadima between 1981 and 1984, and again from 1992 until 2009. He also held the posts of Minister of Communications,

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

and

Minister of Tourism The Minister of Tourism is the head of the governmental department that specializes in tourism, recreation and/or culture. The position exists in many different countries under several names: *Ministry of Tourism and Environment (Albania) * Minist ...

. He resigned following allegations of

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

, and was ultimately convicted of stealing close to 2 million

shekel 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 ...

s from the National Workers Labor Federation while he was its chairman.

Background

Hirschson was born in

Tel Mond Tel Mond ( he, תֵּל מוֹנְד) is a town in the Sharon region of Israel, located east of Netanya and north of Kfar Saba. In it had a population of .. History Before the 20th century, the area of Tel Mond formed part of the Forest of Shar ...

and later resided in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

. From 1970 to 1992, he was secretary-general for the National Youth League (the youth branch of the National Histadrut). He has been the chairman of the National Histadrut since 1995 and chairman of the National Health Fund since 1996 (the revisionist counterparts to the larger General

Histadrut Histadrut, or the General Organization of Workers in Israel, originally ( he, ההסתדרות הכללית של העובדים בארץ ישראל, ''HaHistadrut HaKlalit shel HaOvdim B'Eretz Yisrael''), is Israel's national trade union center ...

and General Health Fund respectively). He helped found the

March of the Living The March of the Living ( he, מצעד החיים, ) is an annual educational program which brings students from around the world to Poland, where they explore the remnants of the Holocaust. On Holocaust Memorial Day observed in the Jewish cale ...

programme in 1988, but has not been involved in the organization for a number of years. During his involvement with the March of the Living the organization was accused of handling donations in a non-transparent manner.

Political career

As a member of the

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 S ...

Party, Hirschson joined the Knesset as a mid-term replacement in June 1983 and served until the end of the 10th Knesset in July 1984. He rejoined the Knesset in 1992, having been elected to the 13th Knesset, and has served since then. On 10 January 2005, he replaced

Gideon Ezra Gideon Ezra ( he, גדעון עזרא, 30 June 1937 – 17 May 2012) was an Israeli politician. He served as a member of the Knesset for Likud and Kadima between 1996 and 2012, and also held several ministerial portfolios. Biography Ezra's famil ...

. In late November 2005, he resigned from the Likud and joined Kadima. On 18 January 2006, he was appointed Minister of Communications while retaining the Tourism ministry. That appointment filled one of the vacancies left by the resignation of all Labour Party ministers in November 2005, the act that resulted in the calling of elections for March 2006. Following the 2006 elections, Hirschson became Minister of Finance as part of the Kadima-led 31st Government, which took office on 4 May 2006. Hirschson, who has been a strong advocate for the privatization of Israeli state-owned services, stunned his audience at the 2006

Caesarea Forum Caesarea () ( he, קֵיסָרְיָה, ), ''Keysariya'' or ''Qesarya'', often simplified to Keisarya, and Qaysaria, is an affluent town in north-central Israel, which inherits its name and much of its territory from the ancient city of Caesare ...

with allegations that anonymous individuals opposed to his reforms have attempted to bring harm to his person. He was quoted by ''Haaretz'' in its 23 June 2006 edition saying, "There are people who are trying to harm me and my family, by means of pressure and threats ... Detectives are following me, with the aim of harming me. This will not work with me; even if the threats intensify, I will continue to promote the reforms that are so important for the people of Israel." On 20 March 2007, Hirschson was investigated for seven hours by

Israeli 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 fight ...

regarding an alleged

embezzlement Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...

at a non-profit organization while serving as the chairman of the

National Workers Labor Federation National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

. He suspended himself from May to July while Israeli police investigated him for embezzlement, before resigning on 1 July. In May 2008, Israeli Attorney General

Menachem Mazuz Menachem "Meni" Mazuz ( he, מְנַחֵם "מֶנִי" מָזוּז; born April 30, 1955) is an Israeli jurist and Supreme Court justice, who served as the Israeli Attorney General in the years 2004–2010. Life and career Mazuz was born in Dje ...

announced that Hirschson would be indicted with a string of crimes including breach of trust,

aggravated fraud Aggravation, in law, is "any circumstance attending the commission of a crime or tort which increases its guilt or enormity or adds to its injurious consequences, but which is above and beyond the essential constituents of the crime or tort itself. ...

theft Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for som ...

forgery Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally refers to the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific intent to defraud anyone (other than themself). Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be forb ...

of corporate documents and

money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdicti ...

. In February 2009, Hirschson lost his Knesset seat in the 2009 elections. On 8 June 2009, Hirschson was convicted of embezzling millions of shekels from the National Workers Labor Federation while he was its chairman. The conviction by the District Court of Tel Aviv-Yafo case 40138/08 also cited financial abuses in the

for Hirschson's private travel. In July, he was sentenced to five years and five months of jail and a fine of 450,000 shekels. He began serving his sentence on 1 September 2009. He submitted an appeal to the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

on 24 September 2009. He served his sentence until January 2013.

Personal life

Hirschson was widowed and had three sons: Ofer (born 1968), Elroi (born 1982), and Barak (born 1984). He died on 7 March 2022, at the age of 81.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hirschson, Avraham 1941 births 2022 deaths Israeli Jews Forgers Israeli fraudsters Kadima politicians Likud politicians Israeli prisoners and detainees Jewish Israeli politicians Jews in Mandatory Palestine Israeli people of Romanian-Jewish descent Members of the 10th Knesset (1981–1984) Members of the 13th Knesset (1992–1996) Members of the 14th Knesset (1996–1999) Members of the 15th Knesset (1999–2003) Members of the 16th Knesset (2003–2006) Members of the 17th Knesset (2006–2009) Ministers of Finance of Israel Ministers of Tourism of Israel Money launderers People convicted of theft People from Tel Mond Prisoners and detainees of Israel Israeli politicians convicted of crimes La'am politicians Ministers of Communications of Israel

Background

Political career

Personal life

See also

References

External links