Yair Peretz - Biography

Yair Peretz (born 1954) is a former Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Shas from 1999 until being convicted of fraudulently obtaining an academic degree in March 2006.

Biography

Born in Morocco, Peretz made aliyah to Israel in 1961. After his national service in the IDF (in which he served in the Nahal), he worked as a social worker.

In 1999 he was elected to the Knesset on the Shas list. During his first term as an MK, he chaired the committee on Foreign Workers and the Labour, Welfare and Health committee, and was also the chairman of the Shas parliamentary group. He was re-elected in 2003 and remained chair of the party's parliamentary group.

In December 2004 the Knesset House Committee revoked Peretz's parliamentary immunity so that he could be charged with breach of trust, fraud and attempted conspiracy. The charges related to alleged attempts to obtain a bachelor's degree in psychology from Bar-Ilan University, which was uncovered by a police wiretap.

After being convicted of fraudulently obtaining an academic degree in March 2006, he resigned from the Knesset and was replaced by Ofer Hugi (who himself was later imprisoned for various charges related to forgery and fraud).