Avigdor Lieberman — finance minister with roots in the USSR
Avigdor Lieberman, born 1958 in Soviet Kishinev, immigrated to Israel in 1978 and built Yisrael Beiteinu into a major political force. He served as Foreign Minister, Defense Minister, and Finance Minister across multiple governments.
"Lieberman emigrated from Soviet Kishinev to Israel in 1978, settling in Jerusalem."
Migration storyTracing the roots — Chisinau (Moldova)
Raised in Soviet Moldova, Lieberman's political identity was forged by the experience of Jewish marginalization under communist rule. He built his career representing the wave of post-Soviet immigrants who transformed Israeli society from the 1990s onward.
Born Evet Lvovich Lieberman in the USSR. Worked as a nightclub bouncer before politics.
Chisinau (Moldova). At the time, this region was one of the fifteen republics of the Soviet Union.