Ami Assaf

Ami Assaf was born in 1903 in Rosh Pinna

Ami Assaf was born Ami Vilkomitz in Rosh Pinna. His parents, Liba Vilkomitz-Segal and Simcha Vilkomitz, were educators, and his father ran the local school.

He studied at the Herzliya Gymnasium. After school he worked in agriculture and helped organize the group that founded the moshav Kfar Yehoshua, where he lived for the rest of his life.

He was active in Mapai's institutions and sat on its central committee. In 1936 he became secretary of the Moshavim Movement. He supported giving the movement more power over each moshav and each moshav more power over its members.

In 1949 he was elected to the first Knesset and was re-elected several times. He served on committees including foreign affairs and defense, and in 1959 became Deputy Minister of Education and Culture. In 1958 he proposed a bill on workers' moshavim that met opposition and did not advance.

He died in 1963 while serving as deputy minister, and Mordechai Zar took his seat. Several schools and the Ein Gedi field school are named after him.