Politicsשלום שמחון

Shalom Simchon

Shalom Simhon is an Israeli politician who served in the Knesset from 1996 to 2013 and held several cabinet posts, including Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.

born 1956Minister of AgricultureLeading the Moshavim MovementCo-founding the Independence party

Born: 7 December 1956, Kfar Saba
Occupation: politician, social worker
Party: Israeli Labor Party
Education: University of Haifa

Shalom Simchon was born in 1956 in Kfar Saba

Simhon was born in Kfar Saba on 7 December 1956 to Masoud and Suzanne Simhon. As a youth he studied at the Ben Shemen Youth Village.

He served in the IDF Armored Corps as a tank commander. He later earned a BA in social work and became a social worker.

He worked as a youth counselor and coordinator in the Ma'ale Yosef Regional Council until 1982, and later held roles in the youth movements of the moshavim. In 1993 he returned to Even Menachem and was elected secretary general of the Moshavim Movement and HaMerkaz HaHakla'i.

He entered the Knesset for the Labor Party in 1996 and chaired the Finance Committee and later the Economic Committee. He was Minister of Agriculture from 2001 to 2002, Minister of the Environment in 2005, and Minister of Agriculture again from 2006. In 2006 he was investigated over alleged favors from an airline, which he denied.

In January 2011 he left Labor with four other members to found Independence, and became Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor and Minister of Minorities. He left the Knesset in 2013 after Independence did not run in the elections.