Rene Trabelsi named as tourism minister in bid to boost troubled economy.
Tunisia on Tuesday approved a cabinet reshuffle that included Jewish businessman Rene Trabelsi as minister of tourism.
The reshuffle of 10 new ministers was proposed by Prime Minister Youssef Chahed last week, in hope of injecting fresh names into his government amid a political and economic crisis.
Mr Trabelsi is the third member of the country’s small minority of 2,000 Jews to join Tunisia’s cabinet since its independence in 1956.
Albert Bessis served in the 1955 government that led to the country’s independence, while Andre Barouch was a close aid to president Habib Bourguiba in 1956.
The tourism minister is from the island of Djerba, known as the heartland of Tunisia’s Jewish community and site of pilgrimage, which attracts a number of tourists every year.
The island is recovering from a 2002 terrorist attack on the famous Ghriba synagogue that killed 21 people, including German tourists.
Mr Trabelsi’s father, Perez Trabelsi, is the president of the synagogue and has been the leader of the community since 1985.
He has played a vital role in organising the pilgrimages and is known for efforts to promote Jewish-Muslim coexistence in the region.
