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| Year of Aliyah =
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| Knesset(s) = [[1992 Israeli legislative election
| party1 = [[Shas]]
| partyyears = 1992–2008
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==Biography==
Shlomo Benizri was born in [[Nesher]]. He was one of eight children born to Maimon and Aliza Benizri. Growing up, he studied at elementary school in Nesher, a religious [[youth village]] in [[Kfar Hasidim]], and the Nesher Comprehensive High School. He did military service in the [[Israel Defense Forces]] and participated in the [[1982 Lebanon War]]. He then studied for ten years at Yeshivat Or HaChaim, a [[yeshiva]] in [[Jerusalem]], and was [[Semicha|ordained]] as a rabbi. He went on to teach at the yeshiva and serve as its spiritual director.
Benizri lives in [[Jerusalem]] and is married with eight children.
==Political career==
Benizri was first elected to the Knesset in [[1992 Israeli legislative election
He returned to the cabinet after [[Ariel Sharon]] formed a new government in 2001 as Labor and Social Welfare Minister, serving until the [[2003 Israeli legislative election
For the [[2003 Israeli legislative election
▲He returned to the cabinet after [[Ariel Sharon]] formed a new government in 2001 as Labor and Social Welfare Minister, serving until the [[Israeli legislative election, 2003|2003 elections]] (aside from a period of two weeks in May–June 2002 when Shas withdrew from the coalition).
Although he retained his seat, on 29 March 2006, the day following the elections, he was charged by the State Prosecutor's Office with accepting bribes and breaching the public trust. The decision to indict Benizri after the elections was a conscious decision on the part of the Israeli [[attorney general]] [[Menachem Mazuz]]. On 1 April 2008, Benizri was convicted of accepting bribes, breach of faith, obstructing justice, and conspiracy to commit a crime for accepting favors worth millions of shekels from his friend, [[general contractor|contractor]] Moshe Sela, in exchange for inside information regarding foreign workers scheduled to arrive in Israel.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1245184914505&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull|archive-url=https://archive.is/20120526101738/http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1245184914505&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull|dead-url=yes|archive-date=2012-05-26|title=Benizri jail term increased to 4 years term|author=Izenberg, Dan|date=2008-06-24|accessdate=2008-06-24|work=[[The Jerusalem Post]]}}</ref> On 27 April 2008, a district court sentenced him to 18 months in jail and decided that his actions qualified as moral turpitude.<ref name="sentence">{{Cite news|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3536430,00.html|title=Court sentences Shas MK Benizri to 18-month term|author=Zino, Aviram|date=2008-04-28|accessdate=2008-04-28|work=[[Ynetnews]]}}</ref><ref name="sentence-heb">{{Cite news|work=[[Ynet]]|date=2008-04-08|accessdate=2008-04-08|url=http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3536597,00.html|title=Benizri Will Go to Prison, Without "He is Innocent" Song|author=Sela, Neta|language=he}}</ref>
▲For the [[Israeli legislative election, 2003|2003 elections]], Benizri was placed second on the Shas list,<ref>[https://en.idi.org.il/media/6803/%D7%A9%D7%A1-16.pdf Shas list (2003)] Israel Democracy Institute</ref> and was re-elected. For the [[Israeli legislative election, 2006|2006 elections]], he was dropped to sixth place.<ref>[https://www.knesset.gov.il/elections17/eng/list/list_eng.asp?id=50 List of Candidates: Shas] Knesset website</ref>
▲Although he retained his seat, on 29 March 2006, the day following the elections, he was charged by the State Prosecutor's Office with accepting bribes and breaching the public trust. The decision to indict Benizri after the elections was a conscious decision on the part of the Israeli [[attorney general]] [[Menachem Mazuz]]. On 1 April 2008, Benizri was convicted of accepting bribes, breach of faith, obstructing justice, and conspiracy to commit a crime for accepting favors worth millions of shekels from his friend, [[general contractor|contractor]] Moshe Sela, in exchange for inside information regarding foreign workers scheduled to arrive in Israel.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1245184914505&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull|archive-url=https://archive.is/20120526101738/http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1245184914505&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull|dead-url=yes|archive-date=2012-05-26|title=Benizri jail term increased to 4 years term|author=Izenberg, Dan|date=2008-06-24|accessdate=2008-06-24|work=[[The Jerusalem Post]]}}</ref> On 27 April 2008, a district court sentenced him to 18 months in jail and decided that his actions qualified as moral turpitude.<ref name="sentence">{{Cite news|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3536430,00.html|title=Court sentences Shas MK Benizri to 18-month term|author=Zino, Aviram|date=2008-04-28|accessdate=2008-04-28|work=[[Ynetnews]]}}</ref><ref name="sentence-heb">{{Cite news|work=[[Ynet]]|date=2008-04-08|accessdate=2008-04-08|url=http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3536597,00.html|title=Benizri Will Go to Prison, Without "He is Innocent" Song|author=Sela, Neta|language=he}}</ref>
==Conviction and prison term==
Benizi resigned from the Knesset the same day and was replaced by [[Mazor Bahaina]]. Both Benizri and the state appealed. On 24 June 2009, the [[Supreme Court of Israel|Supreme Court]] upheld the decision and prolonged Benizri's jail time to 4 years.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3736114,00.html| title= Benizri's punishment extended: Will serve 4 years in prison| work=Ynetnews| date=2009-06-24 | language= Hebrew| accessdate=2012-01-12 }}</ref> Shas MK [[Nissim Ze'ev]] declared after the sentencing: “He is a victim of the system that allows his fate to be decided by elitist judges, who care about his sector and his race and not the good deeds he performs. I have no doubt that an American jury would have treated him better. That's why we need a jury of our peers”.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1245184921969&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull |archive-url=https://archive.is/20120709100434/http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1245184921969&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull |dead-url=yes |archive-date=2012-07-09 |title=Shas backs Benizri, Kadima distances itself from Hirchson |author1=Hoffman, Gil |author2=Stoil, Rebecca Anna |lastauthoramp=yes |date=2009-06-25 |work=The Jerusalem Post |accessdate=2012-01-12 }}</ref> Benizri's brother, Rabbi David Benizri claimed that “a conspiracy of top-ranking homosexuals was behind the Supreme Court's decision to aggravate the sentence”.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3736322,00.html | title = Benizri's brother: Gay elite behind harsh sentence |author =Edelson, Daniel |date =2009-06-24| work=YNetnews| accessdate=2012-01-12 }}</ref> Benizri began serving his sentence on September 1, 2009, in the religious division of [[Maasiyahu Prison|Maasiyahu prison]] in [[Ramle]].<ref name="Haaretz1111613">{{cite web| url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1111613.html| date=2009-09-01| title=Rivlin on Hirchson, Benizri: This is a sad day for the Knesset| author=Ettinger, Yair, Lis, Jonathan and Azoulay, Yuval | work=Haaretz| accessdate=2012-01-12 }}</ref> His cellmate from December 7, 2011, to his release was former president [[Moshe Katsav]].
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