Bechor-Shalom Sheetrit

Bechor-Shalom Sheetrit was born in 1895 in Tiberias

Sheetrit was born in Tiberias in 1895, to a family that had come from Morocco in the 19th century. He studied at a heder, an Alliance school and a yeshiva in Tiberias. As a young man he founded the Zionist group Tehiya and joined Hapoel Hatzair.

He worked as a teacher, and during World War I he was the mukhtar of Kinneret. He later held police posts, including commander of the Lower Galilee, and helped organize the Jewish Mounted Police. He studied law in Jerusalem and became a lawyer.

He took part in the investigation of the murder of Haim Arlosoroff. He was appointed a magistrate in 1935 and became a district judge at the end of 1947. He left the bench before the state was declared.

Sheetrit was a member of Minhelet HaAm and signed the Declaration of Independence. He served as Minister of Police from 1948 and as Minister of Minority Affairs until that ministry closed in 1949. He led the Sephardim and Oriental Communities list in the first Knesset, later joined Mapai, and sat in the Knesset until his death.

An inquiry into the 1958 Shata prison revolt found he was not responsible for the failure. He resigned as Minister of Police on 2 January 1967 and died in Tel Aviv later that month. He had 5 daughters and 3 sons.