Moshe Kelmer ( he, משה קלמר, born 1 November 1901, died 11 September 1970) 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 ...

in three spells between 1949 and 1963.

Biography

Born in

Żychlin Żychlin (other rarely used names include ''Zechlin'' and ''Zichlin'') is a town in Kutno County, Łódź Voivodeship, Poland, about 50 north of Łódź and west of Warsaw. It has 7,964 inhabitants (2020). History The village of Żychlin ex ...

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

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 ...

), Kelmer joined Young Mizrachi during his youth. 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 ...

in 1921, and was amongst the founders of

Hapoel HaMizrachi Hapoel HaMizrachi ( he, הַפּוֹעֵל הַמִּזְרָחִי, lit. '' Mizrachi Workers'') was a political party and settlement movement in Israel. It was one of the predecessors of the National Religious Party and the Jewish Home. History ...

the following year. He later helped establish two of the movement's construction companies, HaBona in 1937, and Mishkanot in 1938, serving as chairman of the board at both. He also helped found the Adanim Mortgage Bank and chaired its board of directors. Kelmer attended a religious teachers' seminary in Jerusalem, and graduated from the

Hebrew University 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 ...

's law faculty. In the

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...

for the first Knesset in 1949, Kelmer won a seat on the

United Religious Front The United Religious Front (, ''Hazit Datit Meuhedet'') was a political alliance of the four major religious parties in Israel, as well as the Union of Religious Independents, formed to fight in the 1949 elections. History The idea of a united re ...

list, an alliance of the four main religious parties. However, he resigned from the Knesset on 11 March 1949, less than a month after entering it, and was replaced by

Eliyahu Mazur Eliyahu (Eljasz) Mazur (, born 1889, died 24 September 1973) was a Polish-Israeli activist and politician. Biography Born in Zagórów in the Russian Empire (today in Poland), Mazur received a religious education. He founded a branch of the Miz ...

. He returned to the Knesset following the 1951 elections, in which Hapoel HaMizrachi ran as an independent party. He retained his seat in the 1955 elections, in which the party ran as the

National Religious Party The National Religious Party ( he, מִפְלָגָה דָּתִית לְאֻומִּית, ''Miflaga Datit Leumit'', commonly known in Israel by its Hebrew acronym Mafdal, ) was a political party in Israel representing the religious Zionist moveme ...

together with Mizrachi. He lost his seat in the 1959 elections, and also failed to be elected in

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 ...

. However, he returned to the Knesset on 2 April 1963 as a replacement for the deceased

Aharon-Ya'akov Greenberg Aharon-Ya'akov Greenberg ( he, אהרן-יעקב גרינברג, 15 March 1900 – 2 April 1963) was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset from 1949 until 1951, and again from 1955 until his death in 1963. Biography Born in ...

.Knesset Members in the Fifth Knesset
Knesset website He lost his seat again in the 1965 elections, and died five years later.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelmer, Moshe 1901 births 1970 deaths Polish emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Law alumni Hapoel HaMizrachi politicians United Religious Front politicians National Religious Party politicians Members of the 1st Knesset (1949–1951) Members of the 2nd Knesset (1951–1955) Members of the 3rd Knesset (1955–1959) Members of the 5th Knesset (1961–1965)