Adisu Massala (, ''Addīsū Messele;'' born 16 June 1961) is an Israeli politician. Born in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

, Massala served in 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 ...

from 1996 to 1999.

Biography

Adisu Masala was born in

Gondar Gondar, also spelled Gonder (Amharic: ጎንደር, ''Gonder'' or ''Gondär''; formerly , ''Gʷandar'' or ''Gʷender''), is a city and woreda in Ethiopia. Located in the North Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, Gondar is north of Lake Tana on ...

province,

. He made

aliyah ''Aliyah'' (, ; ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel or the Palestine (region), Palestine region, which is today chiefly represented by the Israel ...

in 1980 after crossing the

Ethiopia–Sudan border The Ethiopia–Sudan border (; ) is a disputed border between the Ethiopia, Federal Republic of Ethiopia and the Sudan, Republic of the Sudan since the 19th century.Ullendorff, Edward. "The Anglo-Ethiopian Treaty of 1902." ''Bulletin of the Scho ...

and boarding a plane bound for Israel. He studied social work and mechanical engineering at

Bar-Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, , ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic university institution. It has 20,000 ...

, gaining a BA and went on to work as a social worker. He also became chairman of the United Ethiopian Jewish Organisation.

Political career

Masala was elected to the Knesset in the 1996 elections on the Labor Party list. However, he was one of three MKs to break away from the party to form One Nation, led by

Amir Peretz Amir Peretz (; born 9 March 1952) is an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for the Israeli Labor Party, Labor Party. A Knesset member almost continuously from 1988 to 2021, he has served as Ministry of Defense (Israel), ...

. Adisu was placed fourth on the party's list for the 1999 elections, but lost his seat as the party won only two seats. He was placed fourth on the One Nation list again for the 2003 elections, but was not elected as the party won only three seats.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Massala, Adisu 1961 births Living people Bar-Ilan University alumni Black Jewish members of the Knesset Ethiopian emigrants to Israel Ethiopian Jews Israeli Labor Party politicians Israeli people of Ethiopian-Jewish descent Jewish Israeli politicians Members of the 14th Knesset (1996–1999) One Nation (Israel) politicians People from Amhara Region People from Gondar