Aryeh "Lova" Eliav ( he, אריה "לובה" אליאב, 21 November 1921 – 30 May 2010), was an Israeli politician. He served as a member of the

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

for several factions in three spells between 1965 and 1992. Aryeh Eliav talking

Biography

Lev Lipschitz (later Aryeh Eliav) was born in Moscow. His family

immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

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 ...

in 1924. He studied history and sociology, gaining a BA from the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

and worked as a teacher and sociologist. He later served as a visiting professor in several American academic institutes, including two years at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

(1979–1980) and his two terms at

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

in the 1990s. As a teenager, he joined the

Haganah Haganah ( he, הַהֲגָנָה, lit. ''The Defence'') was the main Zionist paramilitary organization of the Jewish population ("Yishuv") in Mandatory Palestine between 1920 and its disestablishment in 1948, when it became the core of the ...

in 1936, before joining the British Army in 1940, serving in an artillery unit. Upon his return home in 1945 he helped the

Aliyah Bet ''Aliyah Bet'' ( he, עלייה ב', "Aliyah 'B'" – bet being the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet) was the code name given to illegal immigration by Jews, most of whom were refugees escaping from Nazi Germany, and later Holocaust sur ...

movement and served as a colonel in 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 ...

. He later worked as an aide to

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 ...

on the topics of immigration, absorption and settlement. Between 1955 and 1957 he oversaw the foundation of several settlements in

Lakhish Regional Council Lakhish Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית לכיש, ''Mo'atza Azorit Lakhish'') is a regional council (Israel), regional council in the Southern District (Israel), Southern District of Israel. It surrounds the ancient city of Lachish, ...

area. During the

Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...

he supervised Operation Tushia, which transported the Jews of

Port Said Port Said ( ar, بورسعيد, Būrsaʿīd, ; grc, Πηλούσιον, Pēlousion) is a city that lies in northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal. With an approximate population of 6 ...

to Israel. In 1958 he returned to Moscow, where he worked as the first secretary in the Israeli embassy, a position he held until 1960. Eliav married Tania Zvi, a Holocaust survivor from Kaunas, Lithuania, who was part of a group of refugees Eliav smuggled into Palestine as the commander of an illegal immigration ship in 1947. They had three children, Zvi, Ofra and Eyal.

Political career

Eliav was first elected to the Knesset in the 1965 elections on the

Alignment Alignment may refer to: Archaeology * Alignment (archaeology), a co-linear arrangement of features or structures with external landmarks * Stone alignment, a linear arrangement of upright, parallel megalithic standing stones Biology * Structu ...

list, and was appointed Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry. During the Knesset term he became Deputy Minister of Immigrant Absorption. He retained his seat in the 1969 elections, but was not given a ministerial portfolio. However, he did become general secretary of the Labour Party until 1971. After again retaining his seat in the 1973 elections, he left the party, first sitting as an independent MK, before joining with the Ratz faction to form

Ya'ad – Civil Rights Movement Ya'ad – Civil Rights Movement ( he, יעד – תנועה לזכויות האזרח, ''Ya'ad – Tenoa'a LaZkhuyot HaEzrah''), commonly known as just Ya'ad, was a short-lived political party in Israel. It is not related to the other party by the ...

. However, the new party split up soon after its foundation, with Eliav founding a new party, the Social-Democratic Faction together with

Marcia Freedman Marcia Judith Freedman ( he, מרשה פרידמן; née Prince; May 17, 1938 – September 21, 2021) was an American-Israeli activist on behalf of peace, women's rights, and gay rights. In 1969, she immigrated to Israel where she helped establi ...

. The new party later changed its name to ''Independent Socialist Faction''. In the run up to the 1977 elections, he joined the

Left Camp of Israel The Left Camp of Israel ( he, מחנה שמאל לישראל, ''Maḥaneh Smol LeYisrael'') was a Israeli left-wing politics, left-wing List of political parties in Israel, political party in Israel. It was also known as Sheli ( he, של"י), an ...

. The new party won only two seats, but a rotation agreement saw the seats shared by five people; Eliav served the first term, before resigning from the Knesset in January 1979 to make way for

Uri Avnery Uri Avnery ( he, אורי אבנרי, also transliterated Uri Avneri; 10 September 1923 – 20 August 2018) was an Israeli writer, politician, and founder of the Gush Shalom peace movement. A member of the Irgun as a teenager, Avnery sat for two ...

. In 1984 he established a personal faction that ran in the elections that year, but failed to cross the electoral threshold by around 5,000 votes. In 1987 he returned to the Labor Party. In 1987 he initiated and led a

Jewish Agency The Jewish Agency for Israel ( he, הסוכנות היהודית לארץ ישראל, translit=HaSochnut HaYehudit L'Eretz Yisra'el) formerly known as The Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. ...

project to found Nitzana, a new educational community, in the

Negev The Negev or Negeb (; he, הַנֶּגֶב, hanNegév; ar, ٱلنَّقَب, an-Naqab) is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southe ...

desert. He served as the Head of Community until 2008. Eliav returned to the Knesset after the

1988 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1988. Africa * 1988 Cameroonian general election * 1988 Equatorial Guinean legislative election * 1988 Kenyan general election * 1988 Malian parliamentary election * 1988 Rwandan parliamentary elect ...

. He served one last Knesset term and in 1992 decided not to run for a new term. Eliav died in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

on 30 May 2010 at the age of 89.Former Labor Leader Aryeh 'Lova' Eliav Dies at 89

Ynetnews Ynet (stylized as ynet) is one of the major Israeli news and general-content websites, and is the online outlet for the '' Yedioth Ahronot'' newspaper. However, most of Ynet's content is original work, published exclusively on the website and wri ...

. Retrieved 31 May 2010.

Pioneering activity

Eliav helped to found the city of Arad in the

and promoted the development of Lakhish and

Kiryat Gat Kiryat Gat, also spelled Qiryat Gat ( he, קִרְיַת גַּת), is a city in the Southern District of Israel. It lies south of Tel Aviv, north of Beersheba, and from Jerusalem. In it had a population of . The city hosts one of the most a ...

. In the 1980s, he was the driving spirit behind the establishment of Nitzana in the western Negev, turning the sand dunes into a

youth village A youth village ( he, כפר נוער, ''Kfar No'ar'') is a boarding school model first developed in Mandatory Palestine in the 1930s to care for groups of children and teenagers fleeing the Nazis. Henrietta Szold and Recha Freier were the pionee ...

Awards and recognition

*In 1988, he was awarded the

Israel Prize The Israel Prize ( he, פרס ישראל; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History The Israel Prize is awarded annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state cer ...

, for special contributions to society and the State of Israel. *In 2003, he won the Ben-Gurion Prize.

Published works

Eliav published 15 books, including: *''Between Hammer and Sickle'' (1965) *''The Voyage of the Ulua'' (1967) *''New targets for Israel'' (1969) *''The Short Cut'' (1970) *''Land of the Hart'' (1972) *''Shalom: Peace in Jewish Tradition'' (1977) *''Autobiography: Rings of Dawn'' (1984) *''New Heart, New Spirit: Biblical Humanism for Modern Israel'' (1986) *''On Both Sides of the New-Comers' Camp: an Intimate Dialogue on Israeli Identity'' (2006) – with co-author Yossi Alfi

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eliav, Aryeh 1921 births 2010 deaths Alignment (Israel) politicians Aliyah Bet activists British Army personnel of World War II Deputy ministers of Israel Haganah members Harvard University staff Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni Trinity College (Connecticut) faculty Independent Socialist Faction politicians Israel Prize for special contribution to society and the State recipients Israeli Labor Party politicians Israeli soldiers Jewish socialists Left Camp of Israel leaders Members of the 6th Knesset (1965–1969) Members of the 7th Knesset (1969–1974) Members of the 8th Knesset (1974–1977) Members of the 9th Knesset (1977–1981) Members of the 12th Knesset (1988–1992) Palmach members Soviet emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Soviet Jews Ya'ad – Civil Rights Movement politicians People from Arad, Israel Burials at Trumpeldor Cemetery