Politicsיאיר פרץ

Yair Peretz

Yair Peretz is an Israeli former politician who served as a Shas member of the Knesset from 1999 until he resigned after a fraud conviction in 2006.

born 1954Shas member of the KnessetChairing the Shas parliamentary groupAcademic degree fraud conviction

Occupation: politician
Party: Shas
Education: Ponevezh Yeshiva

Yair Peretz was born in 1954 in Morocco

Yair Peretz was born in Morocco in 1954 and immigrated to Israel in 1961. He studied at the Ponevezh yeshiva before his army service.

He joined the IDF in 1972 and served in the Nahal. He later studied social work and teaching and worked as a social worker.

He was a member of the Histadrut congress and the Bituah Leumi council and sat on several company boards. From 1993 to 1998 he was a member of the Shafir Regional Council.

He entered the Knesset for Shas in 1999 and was re-elected in 2003. He chaired the Shas parliamentary group and the Labour, Welfare and Health committee, as well as the committee on foreign workers.

In December 2004 the Knesset House Committee lifted his immunity over an academic degree. In March 2006 he was convicted under a plea bargain of fraudulently obtaining a degree, received a suspended sentence and a fine, and resigned from the Knesset. He is married with 8 children and lives in Aluma.