Rafael Edri

Edri was born in Casablanca, Morocco, where he was active in the Habonim youth movement.[1] He immigrated to Israel at age 17 and settled in Hatzor HaGlilit; his introduction during a 1981 Knesset sitting placed his immigration in 1956.[1][2] He also studied at a school of administration in Jerusalem.[1]

In 1957, Edri began working for the Hatzor local council as an aide to Hillel Landsman, its first chairman.[1] He served as the council’s treasurer and secretary before becoming its elected head.[2] His two periods as council chairman ran from March 1968 to December 1969 and from February to May 1974.[1]

After his local-government career, Edri became director general of the Kiryat Shmona Development Company.[1] His 1981 parliamentary introduction also recounted his voluntary management of the Galilee Fund and his election to the presidency of an international organization for development assistance in housing and construction.[2] He subsequently served as chairman and director general of Shikun Ovdim, and later as chairman of Shikun u’Binui, which included the construction company Solel Boneh.[1]

Edri entered the Knesset in 1981 and remained a member until 1999, serving in the 10th through 14th Knessets for the Alignment and Labor Party.[1] He held the position of coalition chairman, a role recalled during a 1993 parliamentary sitting, and was deputy speaker during the 13th and 14th Knessets.[1][4] A photographic archive entry from 1986 is titled “KM Rafi Edri.”[5]

In Israel’s 23rd government, whose term ran from December 22, 1988, to June 11, 1990, Edri served as a minister without portfolio.[6] A photograph entry grouped under 1989 bears the title “A party was given to celebrate Rafi Edri nomination as the new Minister,” without specifying the ministry or a more precise date.[7] On March 7, 1990, he was appointed minister of the environment, holding the post for approximately one week before resigning after the government fell.[1] Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir presented a broader package of ministerial changes that included Edri’s appointment, and the Knesset approved the package by 39 votes to 14, with five abstentions.[8] During the debate, MK Amnon Rubinstein praised the ministry’s director-general, Uri Marinov, for promoting environmental awareness and enforcing environmental laws.[8]

Edri maintained contacts with King Hassan II and other leaders during his political career and after leaving politics in 1999.[1] Jacques Neriah, who identified himself as Yitzhak Rabin’s political adviser from 1992 to 1994, recalled accompanying Edri on a December 1993 mission to Morocco to seek the king’s support for Israel’s position in negotiations with the PLO.[9] In Neriah’s retrospective account, Rabin’s military secretary instructed him on December 15 to travel with Edri, and the two met Hassan II at his Rabat palace on December 18.[9]

Neriah recalled that Edri opened the meeting by conveying Rabin’s blessing and explaining that the delegation had come to brief the king on the negotiations.[9] He described a discussion covering security, crossings, Jerusalem, and the Oslo process, during which the king offered to convey messages to Rabin.[9] According to Neriah’s recollection, the audience lasted about an hour, some 20 minutes beyond its allotted time.[9]

By June 1994, Hassan II had conferred a medal of honor on Edri for promoting closer Moroccan-Israeli ties, and Edri had returned to Morocco on official missions.[3] His connections also prompted speculation at the time that he might become Israel’s first ambassador there.[3] Later, he advised Togo’s ruler Gnassingbé Eyadéma and Eyadéma’s son and successor, Faure Gnassingbé, on economic and mining affairs.[1]

Edri died on June 22, 2024, at age 86, leaving three children, eight grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.[1] His son Liron credited him with involvement in Israeli-Moroccan diplomatic initiatives and described those political relations as roots of the Abraham Accords.[1] His recognition by Hassan II honored his contribution to closer ties between the two countries.[3]

Edri participated in Shimon Peres’s negotiations with Shas in an effort to bring down Yitzhak Shamir’s government, the political episode commonly known as the “dirty trick” (ha-targil ha-masriach).[1] He was considered one of the leading figures in Peres’s camp within the Labor Party.[1]