David Bar-Rav-Hai (, 11 July 1894 – 15 July 1977) was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Mapai from 1949 until 1955, and again from 1956 until 1965.

Biography

Born David Borovoi in Nizhyn 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 ...

), Bar-Rav-Hai joined the Zionist Students Organization in

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

. In 1911, he moved to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, but returned to Russia in 1918 and joined the Young Zion movement, becoming secretary of the Jewish community in Odessa, until the Soviet authorities closed it down in 1920. Afterwards he joined the Zionist underground, and was arrested in 1922. He was sentenced to two years in prison, but was released after 15 months and expelled from the country. 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 ...

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 ...

, where he joined Hapoel Hatzair. He became a member of the workers councils in

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

and

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, and was sent to

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 ...

and

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

as an emissary. In 1933, he established a law office in Haifa. He was joined by his son, Meir, who studied law in the last class under the British Mandate. Between 1932 and 1948, Bar-Rav-Hai 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 ...

, after which he was an alternate member of the

Provisional State Council The Provisional State Council ( he, מועצת המדינה הזמנית, ''Moetzet HaMedina HaZmanit'') was the temporary legislature of Israel from shortly before independence until the election of the first Knesset in January 1949. It took the ...

. As chairman of Israel's election committee in October 1948, he wrote that the need to hold elections within a short period of time made it impossible to create voting districts. Therefore, the whole country was one district for the purpose of the first elections for the Knesset, but with proportional representation. He argued in favor of delaying writing a formal constitution and drafting it "step by step...chapter by chapter," with the

Israeli Declaration of Independence The Israeli Declaration of Independence, formally the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel ( he, הכרזה על הקמת מדינת ישראל), was proclaimed on 14 May 1948 ( 5 Iyar 5708) by David Ben-Gurion, the Executive ...

as its cornerstone. In the elections of 1949, Bar-Rav-Hai won a seat on the Mapai list. He was re-elected 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 ...

, but lost his seat in the 1955 elections. However, he re-entered the Knesset on 24 October 1956 as a replacement for Senetta Yoseftal. He was re-elected in

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 ...

, serving until 1965. He was placed 115th place 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 in the 1965 elections.Alignment list
Israel Democracy Institute

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bar-Rav-Hai, David 1894 births 1977 deaths Jews from the Russian Empire Israeli people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Jews in Mandatory Palestine Mapai politicians Members of the Assembly of Representatives (Mandatory Palestine) Members of the 1st Knesset (1949–1951) 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) People from Nizhyn People from Chernigov Governorate Soviet emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Soviet Jews Ukrainian Jews