Eliyahu Sasson Explained

Birth Date:2 February 1902
Birth Place:Damascus, Ottoman Syria
Office1:Ministerial roles
Suboffice1:Minister of Postal Services
Subterm1:1961–1967
Suboffice2:Minister of Police
Subterm2:1967–1969
Office3:Faction represented in the Knesset
Suboffice3:Alignment
Subterm3:1965–1968
Suboffice4:Labor Party
Subterm4:1968–1969
Suboffice5:Alignment
Subterm5:1969–1974
Office6:Diplomcatic roles
Suboffice6:Ambassador to Italy
Subterm6:1953–1960
Suboffice7:Ambassador to Switzerland
Subterm7:1960–1961

Eliyahu Sasson (Hebrew: אליהו ששון; 2 February 1902 – 8 October 1978) was an Israeli politician and minister.

Biography

Sasson was born in Damascus in Ottoman Syria. He studied at an Alliance School in his hometown and the Université Saint-Joseph in Beirut.[1] He became a member of the Arab National Movement,[2] and edited a Jewish-Arab newspaper named al-Hayat. He immigrated to Palestine in 1927 and worked as an electrician, journalist and lecturer on Middle East affairs.

Diplomatic career

He began working in the political department of the Jewish Agency for Israel, serving as head of the Arab department between 1933 and 1948. A member of the Jewish delegation to the United Nations between 1947 and 1948 and at the ceasefire negotiations in 1949, he worked as director of the Middle East department of the Foreign Affairs Ministry between 1948 and 1950, before heading an office in Paris for contacts with Arab nations. He is reported by Benny Morris to have been a member in 1948 of one of the government's unofficial Transfer Committees, set up to facilitate the removal of Arabs from their towns and villages. He also served as the Israeli envoy to Turkey (1950–1952), an envoy and ambassador to Italy (1953–1960) and ambassador to Switzerland (1960–1961).

Political career

In 1961, he returned to Israel and was appointed Minister of Postal Services by David Ben-Gurion. He was elected to the Knesset in the 1965 elections, and retained his cabinet post until 2 January 1967, when he became Minister of Police. Although he was re-elected in 1969, he lost his ministerial post upon the formation of the new government. He lost his seat in the 1973 elections.

Notes and References

  1. Amikam Nachmani, (1987) Israel, Turkey and Greece: Uneasy Relations in the East Mediterranean Routledge, p 4
  2. https://www.knesset.gov.il/mk/eng/mk_eng.asp?mk_individual_id_t=673 Eliyahu Sasson: Public Activities