Akram Hasson

Akram Hasson (Arabic: أكرم حسون‎‎, Hebrew: אכרם חסון‎‎, born 2 July 1959) is a Druze Israeli politician who serves as a member of the Knesset for Kulanu. He previously served as an MK for Kadima between 2012 and 2013, becoming leader of the party in 2015, the first time a Druze had led a Jewish party.

After doing his national service between 1978 and 1981, Hasson worked as Director of Youth and Sports at a local council. The following year he briefly worked as a teacher in a high school in Daliyat al-Karmel and the prison system, before starting work at a law firm in Haifa. He left the firm in 1986 and became director of the Daliyat al-Karmel community centre. In 1989 he became Deputy Mayor of the city, a position he held until 1998.

In 1996 he graduated with a BA in education, gaining a master's degree in business and education administration the following year. In 1997 he became a headteacher, before working as the Director of the Israeli branch of the University of Lincoln from 1998 until 2001. In 2002 he was awarded a PhD. Between 2003 and 2008 he served as mayor of Carmel City and a member of the Planning and Building Committee in Haifa. Since 2005 he been a member of the Committee for Changing the System of Government in Israel.

He was placed 35th on the Kadima list for the 2009 Knesset elections. Although the party won only 28 seats, Hasson entered the Knesset in May 2012 as a replacement for Gideon Ezra, who had died of lung cancer. In December 2012 he became the first non-Jewish recipient of the Golden Inkwell Word prize, awarded by the Hebrew Writers Association in Israel. Hasson was awarded the prize after promoting legislation to preserve the Hebrew language by ensuring that all signage is primarily in Hebrew and that any speeches made abroad by government officials must be in Hebrew.

Placed eighth on the Kadima list for the 2013 elections, he lost his seat when the party was reduced to two MKs. After party leader Shaul Mofaz retired from politics on 27 January 2015; Hasson was elected on the same day to replace him, becoming the first Druze leader of a Jewish party. However, two days later he joined the new Kulanu list for the 2015 elections, being placed twelfth on the party list. Although the party won only ten seats in the elections, Hasson returned to the Knesset in January 2016 as a replacement for party leader Moshe Kahlon, who had resigned under the Norwegian Law.

Hasson resides in Daliyat al-Karmel and has five children.