Chaim Ben-Asher

Chaim Ben-Asher was born in 1904 in Odesa

He was born Chaim Finkel in Odesa, then in the Russian Empire, in 1904. He studied at a heder as a child.

In 1924 he immigrated to the Land of Israel and continued his studies at the Hebrew University. He joined the Ein Harod labor group in Jerusalem and was among the founders of kibbutz Givat Brenner. After the split in the HaKibbutz HaMeuhad movement he moved to kibbutz Netzer Sereni.

Before the state was founded he served as an emissary of the HeHalutz movement in Germany and Poland. During World War II he enlisted in the Jewish Brigade, where he edited the newspaper The Soldier and the publication HaMa'avak.

A member of the Mapai central committee, he won a Knesset seat in 1949 and was reelected in 1951. He sat on several committees, including Foreign Affairs and Defense, and lost his seat in 1955. He later visited the Beta Israel community in Ethiopia and worked for its immigration to Israel.

He was active in the Histadrut for many years and served as director of Beit Berl. In 1959 he published the book The Future World of Yesterday. He died in 1998.