Moshe "Musa" Chelouche (, ''Moshe Shlush'', April 7, 1892 – February 26, 1968) was a Jewish politician and businessman in

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 ...

and

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

who served in 1936 for 10 days as the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

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 ...

Biography

Chelouche was born in

Jaffa Jaffa (, ; , ), also called Japho, Joppa or Joppe in English, is an ancient Levantine Sea, Levantine port city which is part of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, located in its southern part. The city sits atop a naturally elevated outcrop on ...

in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, 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 Centr ...

, and was educated in Ottoman Palestine,

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, and

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

. His father was

Yosef Eliyahu Chelouche Yosef Eliyahu Shalosh (, ; 1870 – 23 July 1934) was one of the founders of Tel Aviv, an entrepreneur, businessman, and industrialist. Early life Yosef Eliyahu Chelouche was born in Jaffa, Ottoman Syria. His father, Aharon Chelouche, one of ...

, a businessman and founder of

. his father's father was Aharon Chelouche, and this mother's father had been the representative of

Hovevei Zion The Lovers of Zion, also ''Hovevei Zion'' () or ''Hibbat Zion'' (, ), were a variety of proto-Zionist organizations founded in 1881 in response to the anti-Jewish pogroms in the Russian Empire and were officially constituted as a group at a conf ...

. Both his parents were of Moroccan descent. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Chelouche helped Jewish Immigrants to Palestine receive Ottoman Citizenship, and helped Zionist Activists escape the area to avoid Ottoman Persecution. He was captured by the Ottomans in 1915 and imprisoned in

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

for a year. In 1928, Chelouche was elected to the Tel Aviv City Council. He was re-elected in 1935. Following the death of the city's Mayor,

Meir Dizengoff Meir Dizengoff (; born Meer Yankelevich Dizengof, ); 25 February 1861 – 23 September 1936) was a Zionism, Zionist leader and politician and the founder and first Mayor of Tel Aviv, mayor of Tel Aviv (1911–1922 as head of town planning, 1922� ...

on 23 September 1936, Chelouche returned from a visit in France to participate in the election of Dizengoff's successor. The City Council convened on 19 October and elected Chelouche mayor by a one-vote margin, defeating acting Mayor

Israel Rokach Israel Rokach, Order of the British Empire, Honorary CBE (; December 31, 1896 – September 13, 1959) was an Israeli politician, Knesset member, and the fourth Mayor of Tel Aviv from 1936 to 1953. Biography Israel Rokach was born in 1896 in Neve ...

. On 30 October, General Arthur Wauchope, the

High Commissioner of Palestine High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift t ...

, invalidated the election of Chelouche, without giving reasons, and appointed Rokach in his stead. The Council voted to condemn the decision on 15 November. Chelouche served as Bulgaria's Honorary consul to Mandatory Palestine from 1930 to 1940, when he resigned after Bulgaria passed Anti-Jewish racial laws. Chelouche also helped found the

Israel Philharmonic Orchestra The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (abbreviation IPO; Hebrew: התזמורת הפילהרמונית הישראלית, ''ha-Tizmoret ha-Filharmonit ha-Yisra'elit'') is a major Israeli symphony orchestra based in Tel Aviv. Its principal concert ...

Chelouche was married to Rachel, the daughter of a rabbi. He had a son, Aharon, and a daughter, Leah.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chelouche, Moshe 1892 births 1968 deaths Mayors of Tel Aviv-Yafo People from Jaffa Jewish Israeli politicians Honorary consuls for Bulgaria Jewish mayors Chelouche Family Burials at Trumpeldor Cemetery

Biography

Further reading

References