Aryeh Altman ( he, אריה אלטמן, 6 January 1902 – 21 August 1982) was an Israeli politician who 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

Herut Herut ( he, חֵרוּת, ''Freedom'') was the major conservative nationalist political party in Israel from 1948 until its formal merger into Likud in 1988. It was an adherent of Revisionist Zionism. History Herut was founded by Menachem Begin ...

and

Gahal Gahal ( he, גח"ל, an acronym for ''Gush Herut–Liberalim'' (Hebrew: ), ''lit.'' ''Freedom–Liberals Bloc'') was the main right-leaning political alliance in Israel, ranging from the centre-right to right-wing, from its founding in 1965 until ...

between 1951 and 1965.

Biography

Born in

Balta Balta may refer to: People * Balta (footballer) (born 1962), Spanish footballer and manager * Balta (surname) Places * Balta (crater), on Mars * Balta, Mehedinți, Romania *Bâlta, a village in Filiași, Dolj County, Romania *Bâlta, a village ...

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

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

), Altman studied law and economics at

Odessa University Odesa I. I. Mechnykov National University ( uk, Одеський національний університет Iмені І. І. Мечникова, translit=Odeskyi natsionalnyi universytet imeni I. I. Mechnykova), located in Odesa, Ukraine, i ...

. In 1921, he joined Tzeiri Zion, and chaired the organisation until 1924. After being imprisoned three times by Soviet authorities, he was sent into exile in 1924. 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 ...

Mandate 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 i ...

in 1925, and was amongst the founders of the Working Zionists Organization. In 1927, Altman moved 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 study sociology and political science at the

University of Detroit The University of Detroit Mercy is a private Roman Catholic university in Detroit, Michigan. It is sponsored by both the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and the Sisters of Mercy. The university was founded in 1877 and is the largest Catholic universi ...

and then

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

, where he was awarded a PhD in 1935.

Political career

In 1928, he joined the

Revisionist Zionism Revisionist Zionism is an ideology developed by Ze'ev Jabotinsky, who advocated a "revision" of the "practical Zionism" of David Ben-Gurion and Chaim Weizmann which was focused on the settling of ''Eretz Yisrael'' (Land of Israel) by independent ...

movement, and three years later was elected head of the Revisionist Zionists of America. He returned to Palestine in 1935 following the completion of his PhD, and joined the editorial staff of ''HaYarden'', a Revisionist publication, where he headed the Foreign Affairs department. In 1937, he became head of the Palestine branch of the Revisionist Zionist Movement, and the following year became a member of the World Presidium of the movement. Between 1939 and 1940 he was a member of the

Jewish National Council The Jewish National Council (JNC; he, ועד לאומי, ''Va'ad Le'umi''), also known as the Jewish People's Council was the main national executive organ of the Assembly of Representatives of the Jewish community (Yishuv) within Mandatory Pale ...

. Following

Ze'ev Jabotinsky Ze'ev Jabotinsky ( he, זְאֵב זַ׳בּוֹטִינְסְקִי, ''Ze'ev Zhabotinski'';, ''Wolf Zhabotinski'' 17 October 1880 – 3 August 1940), born Vladimir Yevgenyevich Zhabotinsky, was a Russian Jewish Revisionist Zionist leade ...

's death in 1940 he became head of the Revisionist Zionist's political department. In 1943 he went to Turkey as an emissary to try to save European Jews from

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

. In 1945, he became chairman of the Presidium of the Revisionist Zionist Movement. In the 1949 Knesset elections he headed the Brit Hatzohar list,Brit Hatzohar list
Israel Democracy Institute but it failed to cross the electoral threshold. He then joined the rival Revisionist movement,

, and was elected to the Knesset on its list in

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

. He was re-elected 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 ...

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

and

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

, before losing his seat in the 1965 elections. Between 1955 and 1965 he also served as a member of Jerusalem city council. He died in 1982 at the age of 80.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Altman, Aryeh 1902 births 1982 deaths People from Balta, Ukraine People from Baltsky Uyezd Ukrainian Jews Soviet emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Jews in Mandatory Palestine Israeli people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Herut politicians Gahal politicians Leaders of political parties in Israel Members of the 2nd Knesset (1951–1955) Members of the 3rd Knesset (1955–1959) Members of the 4th Knesset (1959–1961) Members of the 5th Knesset (1961–1965) Odesa University alumni University of Detroit Mercy alumni New York University alumni Burials at the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives Russian Zionists