Born in Tel Aviv to Tunisian immigrants, MK Yoel Hasson was not necessarily naturally predisposed to focus a big part of his legislative work on improving conditions for Western immigrants. Yet the Kadima politician has recently emerged as a champion of aliyah from the West, authoring laws to encourage immigration and fighting to remove obstacles to successful absorption.

"This is probably not something that is going to help me in the elections but it is something that will help my soul. It's part of my values as a Zionist Jew," Hasson, 37, told Anglo File about his efforts advancing the rights of a group so small that few politicians bother with it. "I believe that every Israeli leader is not only the leader of the Israeli people, he is also a leader of the Jewish people. It is our full responsibility to care for the future of the Jewish people, for the connection between the Jews who live in Israel and the Jews who live in the Diaspora."

In 2010, Hasson, who is single and lives in Tel Aviv, pushed the Immigrant Absorption Ministry to increase the financial grant "basket" for new arrivals and wrote a law removing the mandatory six-month waiting period for returning citizens trying to rejoin the national health service.

Last week, he introduced a bill that sets the children of Israelis born abroad - who are automatically Israeli citizens even if they never lived here - on equal footing with new immigrants regarding certain benefits.

Immigration professionals praised Hasson for his initiatives.

Hasson says his interest in Israel-Diaspora relations and aliyah promotion started growing in 2006 after he was elected president of the 35th Zionist Congress. He also cofounded the Lobby for the Encouragement of Aliyah from the West, which he today cochairs with MK Carmel Shama-Hacohen.

"Immigration from Western countries is not like immigration from Russia, Ethiopia or South America," said Hasson, who holds a degree in government and public policy from the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya. "Immigrants from North America come for different reasons and have different needs, and good initiatives can help the people who want to make aliyah from there." (Raphael Ahren )