Aharon Becker ( he, אהרן בקר, 21 December 1905 – 24 December 1995) was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset between 1955 and 1974.

Biography

Born in

Kobryn Kobryn ( be, Кобрын; russian: Кобрин; pl, Kobryń; lt, Kobrynas; uk, Кобринь, Kobryn'; yi, קאָברין) is a city in the Brest Region of Belarus and the center of the Kobryn District. The city is located in the southwest ...

in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

(today in

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

), Becker was educated at a

heder A ''cheder'' ( he, חדר, lit. "room"; Yiddish pronunciation ''kheyder'') is a traditional primary school teaching the basics of Judaism and the Hebrew language. History ''Cheders'' were widely found in Europe before the end of the 18th ...

and gymnasium.Aharon Becker: Particulars
Knesset He joined

Tze'irei Zion Tze'irei Zion ( he, צעירי ציון, "Youth of Zion", sometimes spelled as Zeire Zion) was a socialist Zionist youth movement in Eastern Europe in the first half of the 20th century that branched into Palestine. The movement originated at the ...

, and was a member until the organisation was disbanded by the Bolsheviks in 1920.Aharon Becker: Public Activities
Knesset After Kobryn became part of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, he studied bookkeeping at a local trade school. In 1925 he made

aliyah Aliyah (, ; he, עֲלִיָּה ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel, which is in the modern era chiefly represented by the Israel, State of Israel ...

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...

, and initially worked as an agricultural labourer in

Petah Tikva Petah Tikva ( he, פֶּתַח תִּקְוָה, , ), also known as ''Em HaMoshavot'' (), is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel, east of Tel Aviv. It was founded in 1878, mainly by Haredi Judaism, Haredi Jews of ...

, before moving into construction. In 1926 he was amongst the founders of the Hebrew Socialist Youth, and also became a member of

Ahdut HaAvoda Ahdut HaAvoda ( he, אַחְדוּת הַעֲבוֹדָה, lit. ''Labour Unity'') was the name used by a series of political parties. Ahdut HaAvoda in its first incarnation was led by David Ben-Gurion. It was first established during the period ...

. Between 1928 and 1932 he was secretary of the

Ramat Gan Ramat Gan ( he, רָמַת גַּן or , ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv and part of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. It is home to one of the world's major diamond exchanges, and many ...

Workers Committee, before serving as a member of the Tel Aviv Workers Council from 1932 until 1943. He became a member of the

Histadrut Histadrut, or the General Organization of Workers in Israel, originally ( he, ההסתדרות הכללית של העובדים בארץ ישראל, ''HaHistadrut HaKlalit shel HaOvdim B'Eretz Yisrael''), is Israel's national trade union center ...

's central committee, and headed its labour union department from 1949 until 1960. From 1961 until 1969 he served as the Histadrut's secretary. In 1948 he travelled to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

to purchase arms for the

IDF IDF or idf may refer to: Defence forces * Irish Defence Forces * Israel Defense Forces *Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006 * Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917 Organizations * Israeli Diving Federation * Interac ...

. Between 1948 and 1949 he was director in the

Ministry of Defense {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

, before becoming Managing Director of the Supply Authority, which supplied civilian equipment to soldiers. In

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

he was elected to the Knesset on the

Mapai Mapai ( he, מַפָּא"י, an acronym for , ''Mifleget Poalei Eretz Yisrael'', lit. "Workers' Party of the Land of Israel") was a democratic socialist political party in Israel, and was the dominant force in Israeli politics until its merger in ...

list, but resigned his seat on 1 October the following year. He returned to the Knesset following the 1959 elections, but resigned again on 23 May 1960. He returned to the Knesset for a third time after the 1961 elections and was re-elected in

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

. In 1966 he requested to stand down as Histadrut leader for personal reasons, but was re-elected after Prime Minister

Levi Eshkol Levi Eshkol ( he, לֵוִי אֶשְׁכּוֹל ;‎ 25 October 1895 – 26 February 1969), born Levi Yitzhak Shkolnik ( he, לוי יצחק שקולניק, links=no), was an Israeli statesman who served as the third Prime Minister of Israe ...

asked Mapai members to require Becker to remain in post. However, in June 1969 he announced that he would not stand in the Histadrut elections in September that year, and was succeeded by

Yitzhak Ben-Aharon Yitzhak Ben-Aharon ( he, יצחק בן אהרון;17 July 1906 – 19 May 2006) was an Israeli left-wing politician. He was a Knesset member from the first to the fifth Knessets and in the seventh and eighth, and a former Minister of Transpo ...

. He was re-elected to the Knesset again in October 1969, but lost his seat in the 1973 elections after being placed low down the party's list.22 Lists File for Knesset Elections
Jewish Telegraph Agency, 27 September 1973 After leaving the Knesset he became chairman of the Kupat Holim health fund's central committee in 1974. He died in 1995 at the age of 90.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Becker, Aharon 1905 births 1995 deaths People from Kobryn People from Kobrinsky Uyezd Belarusian Jews Polish emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Jews in Mandatory Palestine Israeli people of Belarusian-Jewish descent Mapai politicians Alignment (Israel) politicians Israeli Labor Party politicians General Secretaries of Histadrut Israeli civil servants Members of the 3rd Knesset (1955–1959) Members of the 4th Knesset (1959–1961) Members of the 5th Knesset (1961–1965) Members of the 6th Knesset (1965–1969) Members of the 7th Knesset (1969–1974) Burials at Kiryat Shaul Cemetery