Elie Eliachar

The Jerusalem-born Elie Eliachar (alternately, Eliahu Elisar) spent decades advocating for Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews, demanding inclusion, respect, and the preservation of their culture. Eliachar descended from scholars and rabbis, and was nothing if not outspoken. Early in life, he studied law and medicine, but it was in politics and letters that he made his mark, serving in the Knesset, editing a newspaper (Echo of the Orient), and helping to found the World Sephardi Federation. In the 1970s, Eliachar turned to academia, creating a research center focusing on Sephardi and oriental Jewry. To his death, he remained one of their loudest, fiercest champions, insisting on their place at the center, not the margins, of Israeli society.