Naphtali Busnash was Chief of the Algerian Jews and statesman; born in Algiers in the middle of the eighteenth century; assassinated June 28, 1805.
He was engaged — first alone, and later with the firm Bakri Brothers — in the grain trade, of which the Dey Ḥasan, with whom Busnash was on friendly terms, granted him a monopoly.
In this position Busnash displayed so much ability that he won the entire confidence of the dey, who practically left the government in his hands.
It was he who received the consuls and settled differences between Algeria and foreign countries.
The janissaries and Muslim extremists reluctantly submitted to the domination of a Jew; but Busnash, after having escaped several attempts on his life, was at last shot dead by a janissary at the gate of the dey's palace.