Pinhasi was born in
Kabul in Afghanistan; his family migrated there from
Bukhara in the 1930s. They later
emigrated to Israel in 1950. He was amongst the founders of
Shas, and served as deputy mayor of
Bnei Brak. In 1984 he was elected to the
Knesset on Shas's list, and in December 1985, he was appointed Deputy
Minister of Labor and Social Welfare. He retained his seat in the
1988 elections, and became a Deputy
Speaker of the Knesset. In January 1990, he was appointed Deputy
Internal Affairs Minister, and in June that year, he became Minister of Communications, serving until the
1992 elections. As Communications Minister, he was criticized for granting operating licenses to communications entities owned by his associates. However, he was also credited with opening the telephone market, previously dominated by
Bezeq, to competition. Pinhasi granted new licenses for last-mile infrastructure, international calling, satellite communications, etc. He retained his seat in the election, and was appointed Deputy
Minister of Finance in August, holding the post until he became Deputy
Minister of Religious Affairs. He was forced to resign from the cabinet by the
High Court of Justice in September 1993 after being convicted for making false declarations, a crime deemed to be of "moral turpitude". Re-elected in 1996, Pinhasi lost his seat in the
1999 elections. In 2008, he was appointed chairman of the
Tel Aviv cemeteries council. ==See also==