Hashem Mahameed

Hashem Mahameed (Arabic: هاشم محاميد; Hebrew: האשם מחאמיד, 18 February 1945 – 3 April 2018) was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Hadash, Balad, United Arab List and National Unity – National Progressive Alliance between 1990 and 2003.

Born in Umm al-Fahm during the British Mandate of Palestine, Mahameed studied education at the Hadassim Teachers' Seminary and Tel Aviv University, gaining a BA and an MA.

Mahameed served as mayor of Umm al-Fahm from 1983 to 1989. He became a national politician when he entered the Knesset on 10 January 1990 on the Hadash list as a replacement for the long-serving Meir Vilner. He was re-elected in 1992, and again in 1996, by which time Hadash were running on a joint list with Balad. On 8 March 1999, shortly before Knesset elections, Mahameed joined Balad, which left its alliance with Hadash.^[1]

However, he did not contest the elections on the Balad list, instead winning third place on the United Arab List list.^[2] On 10 December 2002 he left the United Arab List and established a new faction, National Unity – National Progressive Alliance (later renamed Progressive National Alliance). The party ran in the 2003 elections with Mahameed as its head,^[3] resulting in him losing his seat.

Mahameed died on 3 April 2018 at the age of 73.^[4]

• Hashem Mahameed on the Knesset website