Aharon Uzan (; 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 the right-wing

Betar The Betar Movement (), also spelled Beitar (), is a Revisionist Zionism, Revisionist Zionist youth movement founded in 1923 in Riga, Latvia, by Ze'ev Jabotinsky, Vladimir (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky. It was one of several right-wing youth movements tha ...

movement in his youth. After attending college in

Sousse Sousse, Sūsah , or Soussa (, ), 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 of Hammamet, which ...

and subsequently moving to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

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

Mapai Mapai (, an abbreviation for , ''Mifleget Poalei Eretz Yisrael'', ) was a Labor Zionist and democratic socialist political party in Israel, and was the dominant force in Israeli politics until its merger into the Israeli Labor Party in January ...

party. He was one of the founding members of moshav Gilat, 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 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 southern end is the Gulf of Aqaba and the resort town, resort city ...

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 ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

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

Ahdut HaAvoda Ahdut HaAvoda () was the name used by a series of List of political parties in Israel, political parties in Israel. Ahdut HaAvoda in its first incarnation was led by David Ben-Gurion. It was first established during the period of Mandatory Pales ...

), and was appointed Deputy Minister of Agriculture 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 (, ''Ḥeil HaYam HaYisraeli'', ; ) is the Israel Defense Forces#Arms, naval warfare service arm of the Israel Defense Forces, operating primarily in the Mediterranean Sea theater as well as the Gulf of Eilat and the Red Sea th ...

, was killed in the

War of Attrition The War of Attrition (; ) involved fighting between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and their allies from 1967 to 1970. Following the 1967 Six-Day War, no serious diplomatic efforts were made to resolve t ...

. 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 in 1974 when he was appointed Minister of Communications. After

Golda Meir Golda Meir (; 3 May 1898 – 8 December 1978) was the prime minister of Israel, serving from 1969 to 1974. She was Israel's first and only female head of government. Born into a Jewish family in Kyiv, Kiev, Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine) ...

resigned and

Yitzhak Rabin Yitzhak Rabin (; , ; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the prime minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–1977, and from 1992 until Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, his ass ...

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 (, ), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement (), is a major Right-wing politics, right-wing, political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon in an alliance with several right-wing par ...

's victory in the 1977 elections he lost his cabinet position. In 1981 he left Mapai to found the new Tami party alongside Aharon Abuhatzira. The party won three seats and was included in

Menachem Begin Menachem Begin ( ''Menaḥem Begin'', ; (Polish documents, 1931–1937); ; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of both Herut and Likud and the prime minister of Israel. Before the creation of the state of Isra ...

'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.

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