Shlomo Eliahu (; born 18 January 1936) is an Israeli businessman, billionaire, and former 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 1978 and 1981.

Biography

Born 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 ...

in 1936, Eliahu emigrated to Israel in 1950 with his parents and eight siblings. After initially being based in a

ma'abara Ma'abarot (, singular: Ma'abara ) were immigrant and refugee absorption camps established in Israel in the 1950s, constituting one of the largest public projects planned by the state to implement its sociospatial and housing policies. The ma' ...

at Beit Lid, his family moved to Kiryat Shalom. Shortly after immigrating he started working for Migdal. After being sacked in 1953, he began working for Binyan as an insurance agent. He was exempted from

national service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

in the IDF as he had suffered from

polio Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...

, and in 1955 started an independent insurance company in the Shapira neighbourhood of

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 ...

. In 1966 he established the Eliyahu insurance company, which initially dealt only with car insurance, before expanding to other forms of insurance. In 1977 he joined the new

Democratic Movement for Change The Democratic Movement for Change (, ''Tnu'a Demokratit LeShinui''), commonly known by its Hebrew abbreviation Dash (), was a short-lived and initially highly successful centrist political party in Israel. Formed in 1976 by numerous well-known ...

(Dash) party, and won a place on its Knesset list. Although he failed to win a seat in the

1977 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1977. Africa * 1977 Afars and Issas Constituent Assembly election * 1977 Algerian legislative election * 1977 Gambian general election * 1976–1977 Guinea-Bissau legislative election * 1977 Malagasy ...

, he entered the Knesset on 15 February 1978 as a replacement for Meir Zorea. When the party split later in 1978, he joined the

Democratic Movement Democratic Movement may refer to: *Brazilian Democratic Movement *Democratic Movement (France) *Democratic Movement (Israel) *Democratic Movement (Italy) *Democratic Italian Movement *Democratic Movement (San Marino) *Democratic Movement of Kyrgyzst ...

. On 8 July 1980 Eliahu and Shafik Assad left the Democratic Movement to establish Ahva.Mergers and Splits amongst Parliamentary Groups
Knesset website Although they were later joined by

Akiva Nof Akiva Nof (; born 2 December 1936) is an Israeli poet and songwriter, composer, politician, lawyer and a journalist, who served three terms as a member of the Knesset between 1974 and 1984. Biography Nof was born Akiva Naparstek' in Tel Aviv du ...

, both Nof and Assad left the party by the end of the Knesset session, leaving Eliahu as its only member. The party did not run in the 1981 elections, and Eliyahu lost his seat. Today Eliahu owns a large stake in

Bank Leumi Bank Leumi (, lit. ''National Bank''; ) is an Israeli bank. It was founded on February 27, 1902, in Jaffa as the ''Anglo Palestine Company'' as subsidiary of the Jewish Colonial Trust () Limited formed before in London by members of the Zionism, ...

and 23% of the

Union Bank of Israel The Union Bank of Israel, Ltd. (); ), more widely known by its Hebrew name, Bank Igud, is the sixth largest Israeli bank, with thirty branches spread around the country. In September 2020, Bank Mizrahi-Tefahot acquired all the shares of Bank Igud, ...

. According to

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

, in 2011 he was ranked as Israel's 12th richest person with a net worth of $1.1 billion (USD).
Forbes, 11 December 2011 He is divorced with four children.

References

External links

*
Shlomo Eliahu
biography from the official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Eliahu, Shlomo 1936 births Politicians from Baghdad Iraqi Jews Iraqi emigrants to Israel Israeli businesspeople Living people Democratic Movement (Israel) politicians Democratic Movement for Change politicians Ahva (political party) politicians Members of the 9th Knesset (1977–1981)