Gideon Ben-Yisrael ( he, גדעון בן-ישראל, 6 March 1923 – 18 December 2014) was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for

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 ...

and Rafi in the 1950s and 1960s.

Biography

Born 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 ...

during the Mandate era, Ben-Yisrael 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 ...

, and between 1938 and 1940 was a recruiting officer in Jerusalem. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he volunteered for the

Jewish Brigade The Jewish Infantry Brigade Group, more commonly known as the Jewish Brigade Group or Jewish Brigade, was a military formation of the British Army in the Second World War. It was formed in late 1944 and was recruited among Yishuv Jews from Manda ...

, and following the war he helped to smuggle

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 ...

survivors into Palestine. He then fought in the

1948 Arab-Israeli War Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

and was wounded in the Battle for Jerusalem. He was demobilised from 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 ...

as a major. After the war, he studied economics and international relations at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

. He returned to Israel in 1953 and served as secretary of the

Beersheba Beersheba or Beer Sheva, officially Be'er-Sheva ( he, בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, ''Bəʾēr Ševaʿ'', ; ar, بئر السبع, Biʾr as-Sabʿ, Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven), is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. ...

Workers Council, and was head of Labor Relations in the

Ministry of Labour The Ministry of Labour ('' UK''), or Labor ('' US''), also known as the Department of Labour, or Labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, a ...

. He also lectured on labour relations at

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

and the Hebrew University, and was a member of the co-ordinating committee 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 ...

trade union, and chairman of its Organisation and Workers Council section. In 1955 he married Ruth Ne'eman, sister of Yuval (later a government minister), who went on to become a law professor. They had two children, Marit and Sivion. 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 ...

he was elected to 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 ...

on the Mapai list. The following year he received a graduate law degree from the

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 ...

branch of 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 ...

. Although he lost his seat in the 1961 elections, he returned to the Knesset on 28 August 1962 as a replacement for the deceased

Herzl Berger Dr Herzl Berger ( be, Герцаль Бергер; ‎; 31 July 1904 – 28 August 1962) was a Minsk-born Israeli activist and politician. He served as a member of the Knesset for Mapai between 1951 and 1962. Biography Born in Minsk in the ...

. He was amongst the Mapai members that broke away to form Rafi in 1965, and lost his seat in the elections later that year. He went on to serve as chair of the Labor Party's unions section, and was a member of the party's central committee and secretariat. In 1996 he became chairman of the Pensioners' Union in the

, a position he held until his death in December 2014.Former Mapai and Rafi MK Gideon Ben Yisrael dies at 92
The Jerusalem Post, 18 December 2014 Ben-Yisrael died in

from natural causes. He was buried at the

Trumpeldor Cemetery Trumpeldor Cemetery ( he, בית הקברות טרומפלדור), often referred to as the "Old Cemetery," is a historic cemetery on Trumpeldor Street in Tel Aviv, Israel. The cemetery covers 10.6 acres, and contains approximately 5,000 graves. ...

in Tel Aviv.Firebrand fighter for senior citizens’ rights Gideon Ben-Yisrael dies at 91
The Jerusalem Post, 21 December 2014

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ben-Yisrael, Gideon 1923 births 2014 deaths People from Haifa Aliyah Bet activists Haganah members British Army personnel of World War II Jews in Mandatory Palestine Israeli soldiers Alumni of the London School of Economics Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Law alumni Israeli lawyers Israeli trade unionists Hebrew University of Jerusalem faculty Tel Aviv University faculty Members of the 4th Knesset (1959–1961) Members of the 5th Knesset (1961–1965) Mapai politicians Rafi (political party) politicians Mandatory Palestine military personnel of World War II Jewish Brigade personnel Burials at Trumpeldor Cemetery