Ben-Zion Halfon

Ben-Zion Halfon was born in 1930 in Tripoli

Halfon was born in Tripoli, Libya, in 1930 and joined a Zionist youth movement. In 1947 he tried to reach Mandatory Palestine via Italy on the immigrant ship Medinat HaYehudim. The British detained him and sent him to an internment camp in Cyprus.

After reaching Israel, he joined the Palmach's Yiftach Brigade and fought in Israel's War of Independence.

From 1949 he helped immigrants from Libya settle, and he was among the founders of moshav Hatzav near Gedera. He was active in the Moshavim Movement in the south and represented it in the Labor Party. He also coordinated the movement's purchasing organization and sat on the board of the Agricultural Bank.

In 1969 he was elected to the Knesset on the Alignment list and became Deputy Minister of Agriculture. He was re-elected in 1973 but did not keep the deputy minister post. He lost his seat in 1977.

In September 1977 a car hit him near Gedera junction, and he died of his injuries on Yom Kippur. He was buried on the Mount of Olives. He and his wife Malka had 5 daughters, including singer and actress Einat Sarouf.