Yuri Stern (, , 29 March 1949 – 16 January 2007) was a

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

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 and journalist. He was 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 1996 until his death, first as a member of

Yisrael BaAliyah Yisrael BaAliyah (, ) was a political party in Israel between its formation in 1996 and its merger into Likud in 2003. It was formed to represent the interests of Russian immigrants by former refuseniks Natan Sharansky and Yuli-Yoel Edelstein. ...

and later on behalf of

Yisrael Beiteinu Yisrael Beiteinu (, ) is a conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may ...

Background

Born in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, Stern was active in promoting

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish immigration from the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. He emigrated to Israel in 1981. He had a PhD in economics from

Moscow University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, and six branches. Al ...

Political career

Stern was first elected to the Knesset in the 1996 elections on the list of Yisrael BaAliyah, a Russian immigrant party. However, after internal disagreements within the party he broke away with Michael Nudelman to form a new party,

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 ...

. For the 1999 elections, Aliyah ran together with Yisrael Beiteinu, another Russian immigrant party, with Stern retaining his seat. Aliyah was soon merged into

and ceased to exist. After

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 ...

beat

Ehud Barak Ehud Barak ( ; born Ehud Brog; 12 February 1942) is an Israeli former general and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister from 1999 to 2001. He was leader of the Israeli Labor Party, Labor Party between 1997 and 20 ...

in a special election for Prime Minister in 2001, Yisrael Beiteinu was added to Sharon's coalition government and Stern was appointed Deputy Minister in the Ministry in the Prime Minister's Office. He retained his seat again in the

2003 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2003. Africa * 2003 Beninese parliamentary election * 2003 Djiboutian parliamentary election * 2003 Guinean presidential election * 2003 Mauritanian presidential election * 2003 Nigerian parliamentary ...

, in which Yisrael Beiteinu ran as part of the National Union alliance. He was re-elected in the

2006 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2006. * Elections in 2006 * Electoral calendar 2006 * 2006 Acehnese regional election * 2006 American Samoan legislative election * 2006 Bahraini parliamentary election * 2006 Costa Rican presidential e ...

in second place on Yisrael Beiteinu's list (the party ran alone in the election). Whilst a Knesset Member, Stern served as chairman in two Knesset committees; the Internal Affairs and the Environment Committee, and the State Inspection Committee. He was also chairman of two Knesset lobbies; the

Knesset Christian Allies Caucus The Israel Allies Foundation (IAF, also known as the International Israel Allies Caucus Foundation) is a pro-Israel advocacy group that promotes their views with legislators. IAF works with politicians internationally to mobilize support for it ...

, which he helped form, and the Knesset Forum on the Middle East. He also wrote several articles for newspapers including ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'', ''

The Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is an English language, English-language Israeli broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, Israel, founded in 1932 during the Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate of Mandatory Palestine, Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''Th ...

'', and ''

Ma'ariv ''Maariv'' or ''Maʿariv'' (, ), also known as ''Arvit'', or ''Arbit'' (, ), is a Jewish prayer service held in the evening or at night. It consists primarily of the evening '' Shema'' and ''Amidah''. The service will often begin with two ...

'', as well as several academic papers on economics of the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. Stern was also a member of several other organisations, including the Zionist Forum (within of which he was a member of the management for the Israeli Zionist Forum), and others mostly related to immigration and immigrant absorption. He was a vehement opponent of land surrender to

Palestinian Authority The Palestinian Authority (PA), officially known as the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), is the Fatah-controlled government body that exercises partial civil control over the Palestinian enclaves in the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, ...

. Stern died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

on January 16, 2007. The Yuri Shtern Holist Center was created in his memory which helps cancer patients. The Yuri Stern Prize for the Arts is awarded every year. A street was named after him in Jerusalem and a monument was created in Dimona.

References

External links

*
Yuri Stern's memorial web site
Haaretz, 25 January 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Stern, Yuri 1949 births 2007 deaths Economists from Moscow Israeli Jews Israeli people of Russian-Jewish descent Russian emigrants to Israel Russian Jews National Union (Israel) politicians Yisrael BaAliyah politicians Yisrael Beiteinu politicians Yisrael HaMithadeshet politicians Deaths from cancer in Israel Members of the 14th Knesset (1996–1999) Members of the 15th Knesset (1999–2003) Members of the 16th Knesset (2003–2006) Members of the 17th Knesset (2006–2009) Deputy ministers of Israel Burials at Har HaMenuchot