Meir Pa'il (‎; 19 June 1926 – 15 September 2015) was an Israeli politician, military historian and a former colonel in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

Biography

Meir Pilevsky (later Pa'il) was born in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

during the Mandate era. His parents, Nahum and Bracha Pilevsky, were pioneers of the

Third Aliyah The Third Aliyah () refers to the third wave, or aliyah, of modern Jewish immigration to Palestine (region), Palestine from Europe. This wave lasted from 1919, just after the end of World War I, until 1923, at the start of an economic crisis in P ...

. Pa'il studied at the Tahkemoni school in Jerusalem, a school for laborers' children in

Holon Holon (, ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located south of Tel Aviv. Holon is part of the Gush Dan, Gush Dan metropolitan area. In , it had a population of , making it the List of cities in Israel, tenth most populous city in Isra ...

, and at Balfour high school in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

. He joined the "Working Youth" movement in 1937 and served in an active signal unit for the

Haganah Haganah ( , ) was the main Zionist political violence, Zionist paramilitary organization that operated for the Yishuv in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine. It was founded in 1920 to defend the Yishuv's presence in the reg ...

. Pa'il served in the

Palmach The Palmach (Hebrew: , acronym for , ''Plugot Maḥatz'', "Strike Phalanges/Companies") was the elite combined strike forces and sayeret unit of the Haganah, the paramilitary organization of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the period of th ...

from 1943 to 1948. He participated in a series of operations, including the smuggling of illegal Jewish immigrants from Syria and Lebanon, the

Saison Saison ( French, "season," ) is a pale-colored ale that is highly carbonated, dry, fruity, spicy, and often bottle conditioned. It was historically brewed with low alcohol levels, but modern productions of the style have moderate to high leve ...

, the Night of the Bridges, and an attack on a British police position on Mount Canaan. During the

1948 Arab-Israeli War Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

, Pa'il served in the

Negev Brigade The Negev Brigade (, ''Hativat HaNegev''), originally the 12th Brigade is an Israeli Reserve duty (Israel), reserve infantry brigade under the Sinai Division, that originally served in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. History Founding and organizatio ...

. Pa'il served as a career officer in the IDF, commanding the 51st Battalion during the

Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, also known as the Second Arab–Israeli War, the Tripartite Aggression in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel, was a British–French–Israeli invasion of Egypt in 1956. Israel invaded on 29 October, having done so w ...

, the Bahad-1 officers school from 1964 to 1966, and the Department of Military Theory for the General Staff. He left the IDF in 1971. Pa'il studied history and Middle Eastern studies at

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...

, later gaining a doctorate in military and general history. In 1973, he was among the founders of the Blue-Red Movement, which merged with Maki to form Moked, which Pa'il headed. He was elected to the Knesset in the 1973 elections on the Moked list, and was the party's only representative in the

Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

. The party merged with several others to form the Left Camp of Israel prior to the 1977 elections. The new party won two seats, which were rotated between five party members including Pa'il. However, they failed to win any seats in the 1981 elections and Pa'il did not reappear in the Knesset. He died on September 15, 2015, due to complications of

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

Published works

*''Political and Military Reflections in the Wake of the War of October 1973''. Tel Aviv: Israel Peace Research Society, 1974. *''From the Hagana to the IDF'' (1979) (Hebrew) *''The West Bank and Gaza: A Strategic Analysis for Peace''. Tel-Aviv: New Outlook, 1981. *''Development of Jewish Defense Capabilities, 1907–1948'' (1987) (Hebrew) *''Independence 1948'' (1990) (Hebrew) *''Rift in 1948'' (1990) *''The Palmach'' (1995) (Hebrew) *'' From Hashomer to the Israel Defence Forces: Armed Jewish Defense in Palestine''. Jerusalem: Israel Information Center, 1997. *''The Commander: Temperate Military Leadership'' (2003) (Hebrew) *''Meirke - Meir Pa'il: Commander, Educator, Historian, Politician - Autobiography and Selected Texts''. (2014) (Hebrew)

References

External links

* 1926 births 2015 deaths Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in Israel Israeli colonels Israeli historians Jewish Israeli politicians Israeli military historians Jewish historians Left Camp of Israel politicians Members of the 8th Knesset (1974–1977) Members of the 9th Knesset (1977–1981) Moked politicians Palmach members Politicians from Jerusalem Tel Aviv University alumni Jewish socialists Burials at Menucha Nechona Cemetery 20th-century Israeli Jews 21st-century Israeli Jews {{Israel-politician-stub Israeli military personnel of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War