Simha Erlich

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Simha Erlich (15 December 1915 – 19 June 1983) was an Israeli politician who led the Liberal Party and served in the Knesset from 1969 to 1983. Born in Bachów, then part of Austria-Hungary (now in Poland), he moved to Mandatory Palestine in 1938, settled as a farmer in Nes Ziona, studied optics, and started a lens factory. He joined the General Zionists youth movement, entered politics on the Tel Aviv city council in 1955, and later joined the Liberal Party. He was elected to the Knesset in 1969 on the Gahal list (a coalition of the Liberal Party and Herut) and served until 1983. He became chairman of the Liberal Party in 1976.

In national government, Erlich served as Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister from 1977 to 1979, and then as Deputy Prime Minister and Agriculture Minister from 1981 to 1983. As Finance Minister, he pushed to liberalize the economy—removing foreign currency regulations, cutting travel taxes, and making imported goods cheaper. He presented a 1978 budget aimed at reducing the deficit, but the economy struggled, and he resigned as Finance Minister while remaining Deputy Prime Minister to focus on development in the Galilee, the Arab sector, and the absorption of immigrants. He died in 1983 after heart bypass surgery and was buried in Nachalat Yitzhak Cemetery.