Haim Amsalem

Haim Amsalem was born in 1959 in Oran

Amsalem was born in Oran, Algeria, to David and Freha Amsalem, who had moved there from Morocco. At 6 months old he moved with his family to Lyon, France. The family immigrated to Israel in 1970.

He studied at the Kisse Rahamim yeshiva, where he was ordained as a rabbi in 1980 and later taught. In 1990 he became a certified rabbinical legal representative. He was later ordained as a city rabbi.

In 1982 he married Hannah, and the couple had 8 children. He served as rabbi of the Sharsheret moshav, then as a neighborhood rabbi in Netivot. He founded the Shirei David kollel in Har Nof, Jerusalem, and later led the Heichal Haness Sephardic community in Geneva until he entered the Knesset.

He was elected to the Knesset for Shas in 2006 and again in 2009. He supported easing conversion for descendants of Jews, especially those who served in the IDF, and his book Zera Yisrael drew criticism from senior Haredi rabbis. He left Shas in 2011 and founded Am Shalem, which did not pass the threshold in 2013.

He helped found the conversion groups Giyur keHalacha and Ahavat HaGer. In 2019 he joined the Zehut party and was placed second on its list. He has written books on religious topics and published manuscripts by North African scholars.