Israel : Moroccan-born politician Amir Peretz says he won’t run for Knesset in March elections

Moroccan-born Israeli politician Amir Peretz has decided to quit politics, I24 News channel announced on Wednesday. Appointed Minister of Economy, since May 17, 2020 by the Netanyahu government, has announced that he won’t run for Knesset in Israel's upcoming March 23 election.

«I will continue to work for the Israeli public out of a love for humanity and a great faith in the need to bring together all parts of the nation, at a time when the internal split threatens to topple the foundations on which Israeli society was built», Peretz said in a statement.

Amir Peretz entered Parliament in 1988. He held many ministerial positions, the most important of which was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense in 2006 in Ehud Olmert's government.

An essential figure in Israeli political life, he was also the first Sephardic to preside, in November 2005, over the Labor Party, traditionally headed by Ashkenazi Jews, such as Yithzak Rabin or Shimon Peres. 

Three months after his election, Peretz was received, on February 17, 2006, at the royal palace in Fez, by King Mohammed VI.

Amir Peretz, in his capacity as Minister of the Economy, is committed to the resumption of relations between Morocco and Israel. On December 28, he held a videoconference meeting with the Minister of Industry Moulay Hafid Elalamy, devoted to the development of trade between the two States.