Salah Tarif

MKs


Date of birth = Birth date and age|1954|2|9|df=y
Place of birth = Julis, Israel
Year of Aliyah =
Date of death =
Place of death =
Knesset(s) = 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th
Party = Labour
Former parties = Alignment, One Israel
Gov't roles = Minister without Portfolio

Salah Tarif ( _ar. صالح طريف, _he. סאלח טריף, born 9 February 1954) is a Druze Israeli former Knesset member, perhaps most notable for being Israel's first non-Jewish government minister.

Background

Born in the Druze village of Julis, Tarif served in parachute and tank in the IDF, before graduating from the University of Haifa with a BA. Whilst at university he served as deputy chairman of the student union.

Political career

Tarif became mayor of Julis, and chaired the board of Druze and Circassian mayors.

A member of the Alignment, he first joined the Knesset in February 1992, towards the end of the 12th Knesset Assembly as a replacement for Efraim Gur. He retained his seat in the June 1992 elections as the Alignment became the Labour Party, and in November 1995 was appointed Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs in Shimon Peres' government. He was re-elected in the 1996, after which he was appointed Deputy Speaker of the Knesset.

Tarif remained in the Knesset after the 1996, and 1999 elections (in which Labour ran under the One Israel umbrella), and in 2001 was appointed a Minister without Portfolio in Ariel Sharon's national unity government, making him the first non-Jew to hold a full ministerial position (there had been non-Jewish Deputy ministers since the 1970s). However, he left the cabinet in January 2002 when he resigned following the decision to prosecute him on charges of bribery and breach of trust, [ [http://www.jafi.org.il/agenda/2001/english/wk3-5/12.asp This Week in Israel] The Agenda] though he did remain a Knesset member.

He lost his seat in the 2003 elections as Labour won only 19 seats, but re-entered the Knesset in November 2005 as a replacement for Amram Mitzna who resigned to take over as mayor of Yeruham. In January 2006 Tel Aviv district court upheld his conviction on these charges [ [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=673445 District court rejects MK Tarif's appeal against bribery conviction] Haaretz, 23 January 2006] and in March he lost his seat again following fresh elections.

References

External links

* [http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/15645/edition_id/305/format/html/displaystory.html Jewish News Weekly - Not all Israeli Arabs cheer Druze leader]