Salah Tarif (, ; born 9 February 1954) is a

Druze The Druze ( ; , ' or ', , '), who Endonym and exonym, call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (), are an Arabs, Arab Eastern esotericism, esoteric Religious denomination, religious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic ...

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 ...

i 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 ...

between 1992 and 2006. When appointed

Minister without Portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...

Ariel Sharon Ariel Sharon ( ; also known by his diminutive Arik, ; 26 February 192811 January 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the prime minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006. Born in Kfar Malal in Mandatory Palestin ...

in 2001, he became Israel's first non-Jewish

government minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

Biography

Born in the

village of Julis, Tarif is the grandson of Sheikh Amin Tarif. Tarif served in the paratrooper and tank units of the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

. While studying for his BA at the

University of Haifa The University of Haifa (, ) is a public research university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963 as a branch of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation as an inde ...

, he served as deputy chairman of the student union.

Political career

Tarif served as mayor of Julis and chaired the board of Druze and Circassian mayors. He was a member of the Labor Party and ran on the

Alignment Alignment may refer to: Archaeology * Alignment (archaeology), a co-linear arrangement of features or structures with external landmarks * Stone alignment, a linear arrangement of upright, parallel megalithic standing stones Biology * Struc ...

list for the 1988 Knesset elections. Although he failed to win a seat, he entered the Knesset on 3 February 1992 as a replacement for

Ezer Weizman Ezer Weizman (, ; 15 June 1924 – 24 April 2005) was an Israeli major general and politician who served as the president of Israel, first elected in 1993 and re-elected in 1998. Before the presidency, Weizman was commander of the Israeli Air ...

. He retained his seat in the June 1992 elections, and in November 1995 was appointed Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs in

Shimon Peres Shimon Peres ( ; ; born Szymon Perski, ; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was an Israeli politician and statesman who served as the prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996 and as the president of Israel from 2007 t ...

' government. He was re-elected in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, after which he was appointed Deputy

Speaker of the Knesset The speaker of the Knesset (, ) is the presiding officer of the Knesset, the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Speaker also acts as President of Israel when the President is incapacitated. The current speaker is Amir Ohana, who ...

. Tarif was re-elected in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

(in which Labor ran under the

One Israel One Israel (, ''Yisrael Ahat'') was an alliance of the Labor Party, Meimad and Gesher created to run for the 1999 Knesset elections. Background One Israel was formed by Labor leader Ehud Barak in the run-up to the 1999 elections with the ...

umbrella), and in 2001 was appointed a

national unity government A national unity government, government of national unity (GNU), or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties (or all major parties) in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other na ...

, making him the first non-Jew to hold a full ministerial position. He resigned in January 2002 in the wake of a decision to prosecute him on charges of bribery and breach of trust. He lost his seat in the 2003 elections when Labour won only 19 seats, but re-entered the Knesset in November 2005 as a replacement for Amram Mitzna who left to take over as mayor of

Yeruham Yeruham () is a local council (Israel), town in the Southern District (Israel), Southern District of Israel, in the Negev desert. It covers , and had a population of in . It is named after the Hebrew Bible, Biblical Jeroham. Until early 2011 th ...

. In January 2006, he lost his appeal against conviction on bribery chargesDistrict court rejects MK Tarif's appeal against bribery conviction
Haaretz, 23 January 2006 He failed to win a seat in the 2006 Israeli legislative election.

References

External links

*
Jewish News Weekly - Not all Israeli Arabs cheer Druze leader
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarif, Salah 1954 births Living people Alignment (Israel) politicians Deputy ministers of Israel Deputy speakers of the Knesset Druze members of the Knesset Israeli Druze people Government ministers of Israel Israeli government officials convicted of crimes Israeli Labor Party politicians Israeli people convicted of bribery Israeli politicians convicted of corruption Israeli politicians convicted of crimes Mayors of local councils in Israel Members of the 12th Knesset (1988–1992) Members of the 13th Knesset (1992–1996) Members of the 14th Knesset (1996–1999) Members of the 15th Knesset (1999–2003) Members of the 16th Knesset (2003–2006) One Israel politicians People from Julis University of Haifa alumni Tarif family Ministers without Portfolio of Israel

Biography

Political career

See also

References

External links