Mordechai Olmert ( he, מרדכי אולמרט; 16 January 1908 – 30 March 1998) 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 ...

for

Herut Herut ( he, חֵרוּת, ''Freedom'') was the major conservative nationalist political party in Israel from 1948 until its formal merger into Likud in 1988. It was an adherent of Revisionist Zionism. History Herut was founded by Menachem Begi ...

between 1955 and 1961. He was also the father of

Ehud Olmert Ehud Olmert (; he, אֶהוּד אוֹלְמֶרְט, ; born 30 September 1945) is an Israeli politician and lawyer. He served as the 12th Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009 and before that as a cabinet minister from 1988 to 1992 and ...

, who served as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

between 2006 and 2009.

Life and career

Born in

Buguruslan Buguruslan (russian: Бугурусла́н) is a town in Orenburg Oblast, Russia. Population: History It was founded in 1748. Administrative and municipal status Within the framework of administrative divisions, Buguruslan serves as the adm ...

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. T ...

, Olmert's family moved to

Harbin Harbin (; mnc, , v=Halbin; ) is a sub-provincial city and the provincial capital and the largest city of Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China, as well as the second largest city by urban population after Shenyang and largest ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

in 1919. He studied at a local polytechnic, and was amongst the founders of the Jewish Students Organisation and the local branch of

Betar The Betar Movement ( he, תנועת בית"ר), also spelled Beitar (), is a Revisionist Zionist youth movement founded in 1923 in Riga, Latvia, by Vladimir (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky. Chapters sprang up across Europe, even during World War II. After ...

. During this time he met Bella Wagman, who he later married. Between 1931 and 1933 he taught Russian at a Chinese high school, before making

aliyah Aliyah (, ; he, עֲלִיָּה ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel, which is in the modern era chiefly represented by the State of Israel. Traditionally descri ...

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 1933. He joined the Betar work group in

Hadera Hadera ( he, חֲדֵרָה ) is a city located in the Haifa District of Israel, in the northern Sharon region, approximately 45 kilometers (28 miles) from the major cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa. The city is located along 7 km (5 ...

, and worked as an agricultural labourer until 1939. He was amongst the founders of the

Irgun Irgun • Etzel , image = Irgun.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = Irgun emblem. The map shows both Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan, which the Irgun claimed in its entirety for a future Jewish state. The acronym "Etzel" i ...

, as well as the Jabotinsky neighbourhood in Binyamina in 1946. He survived an attack on a bus by Arab militants in November 1947. In 1949 he returned to China as an emissary for the

fund. He returned to Israel to head Herut's settlement department, where he remained until 1953. A member of the party's central committee, he was elected to the Knesset on its list in

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijia ...

, and 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 ...

. He lost his seat in the 1961 elections, and in 1965 left the party's central committee. In 1969 he joined the Free Centre, and was a founder of La'am in 1976. He died in 1998 at the age of 90.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Olmert, Mordechai 1908 births 1998 deaths Russian Jews People from Buguruslan Chinese emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Jews in Mandatory Palestine Betar members Irgun members Herut politicians Free Centre politicians La'am politicians Members of the 3rd Knesset (1955–1959) Members of the 4th Knesset (1959–1961) White Russian emigrants to China

Mordechai Mordecai (; also Mordechai; , IPA: ) is one of the main personalities in the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. He is described as being the son of Jair, of the tribe of Benjamin. He was promoted to Vizier after Haman was killed. Biblical acc ...