Avraham Hirschson

Hirschson was born in 1941 in Tel Mond and was an only child whose parents had immigrated from Europe before the Holocaust.[1] He completed military service with the rank of Staff Sergeant and pursued academic studies; the biographical source does not identify the field or institution.[2]

From 1970 to 1992, he served as Secretary General of Hanoar Haleumi Haoved Vehalomed, a youth organization.[2] He was also described as a longtime general-secretary of the Beitar youth movement.[3] He was widowed and had three sons.[2][4]

Hirschson held senior positions in several Israeli institutions. He served as Chairman of the National Labor Federation, also known as the National Histadrut or National Workers' Federation, from 1995 and as Chairman of the Leumit Health Fund from 1996.[2] Years later, he was convicted in connection with money taken from the federation while he headed it.[5]

Sources place Hirschson's initial election to the Knesset in the early 1980s under Likud.[2][4] Israel Hayom records his service as a Likud and later Kadima member from 1981 to 1984 and again from 1992 to 2009.[4] He served continuously from the 13th Knesset, which began in June 1992, and held positions on the House, Finance, Economics, Labor, Social Affairs and Health, State Control, and Education, Culture and Sports committees.[2]

In the 16th Knesset, Hirschson served as Deputy Speaker and Chair of the Finance Committee.[2] Under his chairmanship, the committee approved economic reforms including privatizations, port restructuring, benefit cuts, a higher retirement age, budget reductions, and tax cuts. It also approved the privatizations of Bezeq, Bank Leumi, and Israel Discount Bank.[1]

Hirschson initiated a mandatory-pension bill intended to secure retirement rights for about one million people who lacked pension plans. The bill passed its first reading but did not advance further. The government subsequently promoted a broader plan to provide pensions to all citizens, which he supported.[6]

In 2005, Hirschson joined Kadima when Ariel Sharon established the party.[7] He was appointed Minister of Tourism in January 2005, served as Minister of Communications from January 2006, and became Finance Minister in May 2006.[2]

Hirschson was appointed Finance Minister in May 2006 in Ehud Olmert's government.[2] His appointment reflected his position as an Olmert loyalist and gave the prime minister greater control over the country's purse strings.[8]

His tenure coincided with the 2006 Lebanon War. Hirschson estimated that the conflict cost Israel approximately $3.5 billion through closed industrial plants, interrupted agricultural work in northern Israel, business and property losses, lost tax revenue, and reduced tourism.[9] He also proposed a NIS 1 billion cut to the 2006 budget, including NIS 510 million in defense cuts and no cuts to social programs. The Knesset passed the budget on June 7, 2006, although the proposed defense reduction was not ultimately implemented because of war-related military expenditures.[9]

On January 29, 2007, Hirschson presented plans for 2007–2010 aimed at reducing poverty and correcting the maldistribution of wealth. The proposals included mandatory pensions, higher taxes on employee vehicles, a negative income tax for low-income earners, and income-tax reductions for lower-middle-class earners.[10] A criminal investigation then interrupted his ministerial work. He stepped down temporarily on April 22, 2007, with Olmert serving as acting finance minister, and formally resigned on July 2, 2007.[9][10]

The investigation concerned suspected embezzlement from nonprofit bodies connected to the National Workers' Federation. A 2007 Congressional Research Service report said police suspected that nonprofit funds had been used to finance Likud political activity; at that stage, these remained allegations.[9] A later report recorded that Hirschson was indicted in June 2008 for stealing money from two organizations.[10] In 2007, he was also arrested at Ben-Gurion Airport while returning from Poland with $250,000 in cash, although the reporting did not connect that incident to his later embezzlement conviction.[11]

The Tel Aviv District Court convicted Hirschson in 2009 of larceny, executive theft, fraud, breach of trust, illicitly obtaining funds, money laundering, and falsifying corporate documents, while acquitting him of two counts.[12] The sentencing decision emphasized that he had received concealed cash payments in envelopes.[5]

The court imposed five years and five months in prison, a one-year suspended sentence, and a NIS 450,000 fine.[12][5] Judge Bracha Ofir-Tom said, "It's inconceivable that he did not understand that taking the money is not only against the law, but also damages the heart of good governance."[12] She also cited Hirschson's volunteer work for Holocaust survivors, his support for his children after his wife's death, his age and health, and the return of most of the stolen money as mitigating circumstances.[5]

The National Workers' Federation's director general said the financial damage necessitated a recovery plan, fourteen employee dismissals, wage reductions, and department closures. He also attributed the closure of about fifteen daycare facilities and a reduction by half in the Nili Association's activity to the losses.[5]

Hirschson appealed the conviction. The U.S. Department of State's 2009 human-rights report recorded that he began the appeal process on September 24, 2009, while serving his sentence.[13] The Supreme Court rejected his appeal in 2011, including his argument that the money represented wages he had concealed because Knesset members could not receive additional salaries. The court said that account conflicted with the relevant financial and employment realities and with logic and common sense.[7]

A parole board granted Hirschson early release for good behavior. He left Hermon Prison in January 2013 after serving approximately three and a half years of his sentence.[11]

Hirschson died on March 7, 2022, at the age of 81. He was survived by three sons.[4]

Hirschson was active in Holocaust remembrance and survivor assistance. He initiated the March of the Living in Poland and participated in it annually.[7][1] He also chaired a committee for the restitution of Jewish property looted during the Holocaust and served on the board of the Special Swiss Committee for Needy Holocaust Survivors.[2][7]

In those roles, Hirschson was credited with helping persuade European banks and companies to return hundreds of millions of shekels taken from Jews and direct the money to survivors in need.[7] He also served as President of the March of the Living Project and initiated and served as president of the Jewish Heroes Quiz.[2]

Published accounts differ on several details. The Jewish Virtual Library and Israel Hayom place Hirschson's initial Knesset service in 1981.[2][4] A later ynet obituary instead says he was first elected in 1983.[7]

Reports also use different figures for the money involved in the criminal case. The U.S. Department of State recorded NIS 1.8 million, while Ynet's sentencing report gave NIS 2 million.[13][12] Globes reported a range of NIS 1.73–1.9 million, while a later ynet account described NIS 2.3 million taken from the federation and the Nili Association.[5][7] These figures reflect differing descriptions and scopes in contemporary and retrospective reporting.

The reported prison terms are largely equivalent rather than contradictory: Ynet gave five years and five months, and Globes recorded the same term as 65 months.[12][5] Israel Hayom rounded the sentence to five and a half years.[4]