Bechor-Shalom Sheetrit

Bechor-Shalom Sheetrit
Date of birth	1895
Place of birth	Tiberias, Ottoman Empire
Date of death	28 January 1967
Knessets	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Faction represented in Knesset
1949–1951	Sephardim & Oriental Communities
1951–1965	Mapai
1965–1967	Alignment
Ministerial roles
1948–1967	Minister of Police
1948–1949	Minister of Minority Affairs

Bechor-Shalom Sheetrit (Hebrew: בכור-שלום שטרית‎‎, 1895 – 28 January 1967) was an Israeli politician, minister and the only signatory of the Israeli declaration of independence to have been born in the country. He served as Minister of Police from independence until his death in 1967, making him the longest-serving cabinet member in the same portfolio to date.

Born in Tiberias in the time of the Ottoman Empire to a Moroccan Jewish family who immigrated in the 19th century, Sheetrit was educated at a heder, Alliance school and a yeshiva. After school he attended the Hebrew University of Jerusalem where he was certified as a lawyer.

He became involved in Zionist activities as a youth, and was a founder of the Tehiya Zionist association in his home town. He also joined Hapoel Hatzair after being influenced by kibbutz Degania.

During World War I he held the position of Mukhtar of Kinneret and organised local police until the British Army entered the area.

Following the war he held several positions in the police, including Commander of the Lower Galilee area (where he helped organised the Jewish Mounted Police), deputy commander of the police academy in Jerusalem, and was the prosecutor in the Haim Arlosoroff assassination case. After being made a District Judge in 1935, he served as head district judge in Lod between 1945 and 1948.

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