Yisrael Yeshayahu

MKs


Date of birth = 20 April 1908
Place of birth = Sa'dah, Yemen
Year of Aliyah = 1929
Date of death = 20 June 1979
Place of death = Jerusalem, Israel
Knesset(s) =
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th,
7th, 8th
Party = Alignment
Former parties = Mapai
Gov't roles = Minister of Postal Services

Yisrael Yeshayahu Sharabi ( _he. ישראל ישעיהו שרעבי, born 20 April 1908, died 20 June 1979) was a Yemen-born Israeli politician, minister and the fifth Speaker of the Knesset.

Born in Sa'dah, Yemen, Yeshayahu was a member of the Dor Daim movement, before making aliyah in 1929. He became head of the Yemenite Immigrant and Eastern Jewry Department of the Histadrut in 1934, a position he retained until 1948 when he started organizing the immigration of Yemenite Jews, including Operation Magic Carpet.

A member of the Tel Aviv Workers Council, he was also a delegate to the Zionist Congress and the Assembly of Representatives. He served Deputy Secretary of Government and communications officer between the Government and the Knesset between 1948 and 1949.

He narrowly missed out on being elected to the first Knesset in 1949, but entered it in 1951 as a replacement for Aryeh Sheftel and retained his seat in every election until 1977. He was appointed Minister of Postal Services in 1967, a role he retained until the 1969 elections. After serving as Secretary General of the Labour Party between 1971 and 1972, he was made Speaker of the Knesset in 1972, a role he retained until 1977.

A good friend of Rabbi Yosef Qafih, he was a Baladi Yemenite Israeli and active in the Dor Daim community, although he was from the Shami Nusach.

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