Dr Giora Yoseftal ( he, גיורא יוספטל; 9 August 1912 – 23 August 1962) was an Israeli politician who held several ministerial portfolios in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Biography
Born Georg Josephthal in
Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
in Germany, Yoseftal was a member of the Yiddisher Yudenbund youth movement in his teens. After high school he studied law and economics at the
University of Heidelberg
}
Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...
,
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
,
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
and
Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...
, gaining a PhD in jurisprudence at the latter.
In 1932, he joined
Habonim, and the following year was appointed head of the youth department of the
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
n Jewish community. He moved to Berlin in 1934, and two years later was elected secretary general of the German branch of
HeHalutz
HeHalutz or HeChalutz ( he, הֶחָלוּץ, lit. "The Pioneer") was a Jewish youth movement that trained young people for agricultural settlement in the Land of Israel. It became an umbrella organization of the pioneering Zionist youth moveme ...
. In 1936 he married
Senetta Yoseftal
Senetta Yoseftal (née Punfud) ( he, סנטה יוספטל, 5 December 1912 – 26 July 2007) was an Israeli politician.
Background
Yoseftal was born in Germany. She joined the HaBonim movement in 1933 and worked in HeHalutz Center in Berlin fr ...
, later also an Israeli politician.
Yoseftal 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 ...
to
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 1938, and two months after arriving, he was sent to London to try to save German Jewry. He returned to Palestine in 1939, establishing a work brigade in
Ra'anana
Ra'anana ( he, רַעֲנָנָּה, lit. "Fresh") is a city in the southern Sharon Plain of the Central District of Israel. It was founded in 1922 as an American-Jewish settlement, 1 km south of the village of Tabsur, where an important ...
, which later founded kibbutz
Gal'ed
Gal'ed ( he, גַּלְעֵד, ''lit.'' Monument) is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located in the Menashe Heights with an area of 14,500 dunams, it falls under the jurisdiction of Megiddo Regional Council. In it had a population of .
History
...
in 1945.
In 1943, he joined the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
. After the
war
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
ended, he took over the absorption section of the
Jewish Agency's aliyah department. Between 1947 and 1952 he sat on the Agency's board. In 1952 he was a member of the delegations which negotiated the
.
In 1956, he became secretary-general of
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 ...
, the ruling party, a role he held until 1959. In the
elections that year he was voted into 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 Mapai's list, and was appointed
Minister of Labour Minister of Labour (in British English) or Labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...
. He retained his seat in the
1961 elections, and was given the roles of
Minister of Housing and
Minister of Development. He died in office on 23 August 1962.
In March 2018, the city of
Netanya
Netanya (also known as Natanya, he, נְתַנְיָה) is a city in the Northern Central District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa, between Poleg stream and Wingate I ...
decided to change the name of a street named after Yoseftal because of his discriminatory policies towards North African immigrants in the 1950s.
סערת "סלאח פה זה ארץ ישראל": שמו של הרחוב ע"ש יוספטל בנתניה ישונה
Maariv, 6 March 2018
The Yoseftal Medical Center in Eilat
Eilat ( , ; he, אֵילַת ; ar, إِيلَات, Īlāt) is Israel's southernmost city, with a population of , a busy port and popular resort at the northern tip of the Red Sea, on what is known in Israel as the Gulf of Eilat and in Jordan ...
is named for him; he was instrumental in its construction and location but did not live to see it opened.
References
External links
*
* The personal papers of Giora Yoseftal are kept at the
Central Zionist Archives
in Jerusalem. The notation of the record group is A344.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yoseftal, Giora
1912 births
1962 deaths
Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Mandatory Palestine
Heads of the Jewish Agency for Israel
Heidelberg University alumni
Humboldt University of Berlin alumni
Jewish Israeli politicians
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni
Mapai politicians
Members of the 4th Knesset (1959–1961)
Members of the 5th Knesset (1961–1965)
Members of the Assembly of Representatives (Mandatory Palestine)
Politicians from Nuremberg
Spouses of Israeli politicians
University of Basel alumni
Ministers of Development of Israel
Ministers of Housing of Israel
Ministers of Labour of Israel