Yuri Stern
Yuri Stern (Hebrew: יורי שטרן, Russian: Юрий Штерн, 29 March 1949 – 16 January 2007) was a Russian-Israeli politician and journalist. He was a member of the Knesset from 1996 until his death, first as a member of Yisrael BaAliyah and later on behalf of Yisrael Beiteinu.
Background
Born in Moscow, Stern was active in promoting Jewish immigration from the Soviet Union. He emigrated to Israel in 1981. He had a PhD in economics from Moscow University.
Political career
Stern was first elected to the Knesset in the 1996 elections on the list of Yisrael BaAliyah, a Russian immigrant party. However, after internal disagreements within the party he broke away with Michael Nudelman to form a new party, Aliyah.
For the 1999 elections, Aliyah ran together with Yisrael Beiteinu, another Russian immigrant party, with Stern retaining his seat. Aliyah was soon merged into Yisrael Beiteinu and ceased to exist.
After Ariel Sharon beat Ehud Barak in a special election for Prime Minister in 2001, Yisrael Beiteinu was added to Sharon's coalition government and Stern was appointed Deputy Minister in the Ministry in the Prime Minister's Office.