David Levy, Moroccan

JERUSALEM (AP) — David Levy, an Israeli politician born in Morocco who fought tirelessly against deep-seated racism against Jews from North Africa and went on to serve as foreign minister and hold other senior governmental posts, has died. He was 86.

Levy moved at age 20 from Morocco to Beit Shean, an isolated town in Israel’s north. He first worked in construction and got his start in politics as a representative of the construction union.

He served in the Knesset, or parliament, from 1969 to 2006, holding the posts of foreign minister, deputy prime minister and housing and construction minister at various times. At the height of his career, he was a rival in the Likud party to Israel’s current prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israel’s early leaders, mostly of European, or Ashkenazi, descent took a paternalistic attitude toward Jewish immigrants from Arabic-speaking countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Many of these immigrants, known as Mizrahi Jews, were sent to shantytown transit camps and largely sidelined.