Binyamin Sasson (; 1903 – 1 May 1989) was an Israeli politician who served as a member of 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 1951 to 1955.

Biography

Born Saleh Silas in

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

during the

Ottoman era The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Central Euro ...

, Sasson

emigrated Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

in 1937. He became one of the leaders of

Sephardic Jews Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

in Palestine and served as deputy chairman of the Committee of Sephardi Jewry. He was also a member of the board of the World Federation of Sephardi Communities and president of the Iraqi community in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

. He was one of the founders of the Israeli branch of Rotary and served as president of the Tel Aviv branch between 1945 and 1946. A municipal judge, he was elected to the Knesset in

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

on the

Sephardim and Oriental Communities Sephardim and Oriental Communities (, ''Sfaradim VeEdot Mizrah'') was a political party in Israel and is one of the ancestors of the Likud party. History The Sephardim and Oriental Communities party represented Sephardi Jews and Mizrahi Jews who ...

list. Six weeks after the elections the party merged into the

General Zionists The General Zionists () were a centrist Zionist movement and a political party in Israel. The General Zionists supported the leadership of Chaim Weizmann and their views were largely colored by central European culture. The party was considered ...

. Sasson lost his seat in the 1955 elections. He died in 1989.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sasson, Binyamin 1903 births 1989 deaths Politicians from Baghdad Iraqi Jews Iraqi emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Sephardi Jews in Mandatory Palestine 20th-century Israeli judges Sephardim and Oriental Communities politicians General Zionists politicians Members of the 2nd Knesset (1951–1955)