Former Knesset Speaker Yisrael Yeshayahu, a leader of the Yemenite Jewish community in Israel, died today after a long illness. He was 59. His body will lie in state at the Knesset tomorrow before burial later in the day.
The Knesset stood at attention in his honor when news of his death reached it shortly before the end of today’s session. Knesset Speaker Yitzhak Shamir said that Yeshayahu had contributed enormously to the growth of the Israeli parliament Labor Party leader Shimon Peres praised his contributions to the party.
Born in Saana, Yemen April 15, 1920 as Yisrael Yeshayahu Sharabi, he dropped his last name after immigrating to then Palestine at the age of nine. He entered public life in the Histadrut’s Department for Oriental and Yemenite Jews which he headed from 1934-48. In 1948, he was named by the Israeli government and the Histadrut to head "Operation Magic Carpet" which brought the Jews of Yemen to Israel. He entered the Knesset in 1951 and during the years was frequently in dispute with the Labor Party leadership over what he termed discrimination against his advancement because he was a Yemenite. In 1967, Premier Levi Eshkol named him Minister of Posts.
In 1971, he was elected secretary general of the Labor Party and in 1972 he became Speaker, a post he held until 1979. He was not selected for the Labor Party’s 1979 election list.
During his lifetime, he published numerous articles on the history and folklore of Yemenite Jews and on problems of absorption into Israeli society.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
