Ex-minister Pesach Gruper laid to rest at 88

Funeral held in Atlit for former agriculture minister in two governments under former prime minister Yitzhak Shamir.

By LAHAV HARKOV
Pesach Gruper (photo credit: Courtesy of Knesset)
Pesach Gruper
(photo credit: Courtesy of Knesset)
Pesah Gruper, an agriculture minister in two governments under former prime minister Yitzhak Shamir, died on Monday night at the age of 88.
His funeral was on Tuesday afternoon in Atlit.
Gruper was the head of the Atlit Local Council before serving as a Likud MK in the eight, ninth, 10th, 11th and 12th Knessets.
After leaving politics, he became the president of the Farmers’ Union and the chairman of the Vintners’ Association.
Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein said on Tuesday that Gruper was “a man of the land with every bone in his body, and will be remembered as an activist who worked for the farmers and vintners in Israel.”
“Pesah was a special man who said what he thought.
Even if he sounded blunt sometimes, his words would do the work. Despite his rough image, he was a delicate soul,” MK Reuven Rivlin (Likud) said.
Rivlin added that Gruper stood up for the Jewish people’s right to its land and was one of the most knowledgeable and involved agriculture ministers in Israeli history.