Yitzhak Peretz | |
|---|---|
 Peretz in 2013 | |
| Ministerial roles | |
| 1984 | Minister without Portfolio |
| 1984–1987 | Minister of Internal Affairs |
| 1987–1988 | Minister without Portfolio |
| 1988–1992 | Minister of Immigrant Absorption |
| Faction represented in theKnesset | |
| 1984–1990 | Shas |
| 1990–1992 | Moria |
| 1992 | United Torah Judaism |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1938-03-26)26 March 1938 (age 87) Casablanca, Morocco |
RabbiYitzhak Haim Peretz (Hebrew:יצחק חיים פרץ; born 26 March 1938) is anIsraeli former politician who held severalministerial portfolios during the 1980s and early 1990s.
Born inCasablanca inMorocco, Peretz madealiyah to Israel in 1950. He studied at the Yeshiva High School,"Noam", inPardes Hana, at theHebron Yeshiva,Jerusalem, and at thekollel inPetah Tikva; he wasordained as arabbi atYeshivat Hazon Ovadia. He served as chief rabbi ofRa'anana from 1962 until 1984.
In 1984 Peretz became the leader of the newSephardic HarediShas party,[1] and in theelections that year, he won a seat in theKnesset. The party joined thenational unity government, and Peretz was appointedMinister without Portfolio. On 24 December 1984, he becameMinister of Internal Affairs, a post he resigned two years later, in January 1987, in protest against theSupreme Court ordering him to recognise as Jewish a woman who underwent a conversion to Judaism with aReform rabbi, a controversial procedure from theHaredi point of view, stating that "The High Court of Justice demanded that I list a non-Jew as a Jew".[2]On 25 May, he rejoined the government as a Minister without Portfolio.
Following the1988 elections, he was appointedMinister of Immigrant Absorption. On 25 December 1990, he left Shas and founded a new religious faction,Moria, though he remained a member of the cabinet.
Prior to the1992 elections, he joinedUnited Torah Judaism (UTJ), and was placed second on the party's list, in order to attract voters from Shas, with the agreement that he would resign from the Knesset if his presence did not significantly increase the alliance's vote share. The elections saw UTJ win only three seats, a reduction from the seven won by the two parties running separately in 1988, and Peretz resigned three days after the Knesset term started.
Peretz was elected to the Chief Rabbinate in 2002, and was re-elected in 2008. He is currently the City Rabbi ofRa'anana.[3]
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