Moshe Sneh ( he, מֹשֶׁה סְנֶה ; 6 January 1909 – 1 March 1972) was a

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 ...

commander and an

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i politician. One of the founders of Mapam, he later joined the Israeli Communist Party (Maki).

Biography

Mosze Klaynboym (later Sneh) attended high school 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 ...

before studying natural sciences, mathematics and medicine at the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw ( pl, Uniwersytet Warszawski, la, Universitas Varsoviensis) is a public university in Warsaw, Poland. Established in 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country offering 37 different fields of ...

, gaining an MD in 1935. Whilst a student, he was a member of the ''Yardinia'' Zionist student organisation, becoming its chairman in 1926, and was also chairman of the Medical Jewish Students Union. He became the editor of the ''Nowe Słowo'' newspaper in 1931, and the political editor of ''

Haynt ''Haynt'' (הײַנט - "Today"; Yidishes tageblat 1906-08) was a Yiddish daily newspaper, published in Warsaw from 1906 until 1939. Newspaper ''Yidishes tageblat'' (יידישעס טאגעבלאט) was founded in 1906 by Zionist Samuel Jackan ...

'' in 1933. In 1932 he was elected to the central committee of the Zionist Federation of Poland, and was a leader of the radical Zionists. In 1935 he also became a member of the Zionist Executive Committee. He worked as a doctor until 1939, including in the Polish Army following the outbreak of

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 ...

, and

immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

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 1940. Upon arriving in Mandatory Palestine, he joined the

, and was head of its general staff in 1941–1946. His son,

Efraim Sneh Efraim Sneh ( he, אפרים סנה, born 19 September 1944) is an Israeli politician, physician, and a retired brigadier general in the Israel Defense Forces. He was a member of the Knesset for the Labor Party between 1992 and 2008 and served ...

, served as both Health and Transportation Minister for the Labour Party before leaving the Knesset in 2008 to form his own party,

Yisrael Hazaka Israel has numerous minor political parties. Under the proportional representation electoral system used to elect members of the Knesset, parties required only 1% of the vote to win a seat in the legislature until the 1992 elections, when the elec ...

Political career

In 1944 he joined the

Jewish National Council The Jewish National Council (JNC; he, ועד לאומי, ''Va'ad Le'umi''), also known as the Jewish People's Council was the main national executive organ of the Assembly of Representatives of the Jewish community (Yishuv) within Mandatory Pale ...

, and became a member of the Assembly of Representatives. Between 1945 and 1947 he sat on the board of the

Jewish Agency The Jewish Agency for Israel ( he, הסוכנות היהודית לארץ ישראל, translit=HaSochnut HaYehudit L'Eretz Yisra'el) formerly known as The Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. ...

, heading its immigration department. In 1946 he became head of the Agency's political department for Europe. Sneh's name was on the British Police's wanted list in

Operation Agatha Operation Agatha (Saturday, June 29, 1946), sometimes called Black Sabbath ( he, השבת השחורה) or Black Saturday because it began on the Jewish sabbath, was a police and military operation conducted by the British authorities in Mandato ...

, but he avoided arrest by fleeing to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. Sneh was a member of the

General Zionists The General Zionists ( he, הַצִיּוֹנִים הַכְּלָלִיים, translit. ''HaTzionim HaKlaliym'') were a centrist Zionist movement and a political party in Israel. The General Zionists supported the leadership of Chaim Weizmann an ...

party.Dr. Sneh to be buried in accordance with Jewish religious tradition
/ref> In 1947, he joined Mapam and was appointed deputy editor of the party's newspaper, ''

Al HaMishmar ''Al HaMishmar'' ( he, על המשמר, ''On Guard'') was a daily newspaper published in Mandatory Palestine and Israel between 1943 and 1995. The paper was owned by, and affiliated with Hashomer Hatzair as well as the Hashomer Hatzair Workers Pa ...

'', a position he held until 1953. In 1949 he was elected to the

first Knesset Constituent Assembly elections were held in newly independent Israel on 25 January 1949. Voter turnout was 86.9%. Two days after its first meeting on 14 February 1949, legislators voted to change the name of the body to the Knesset (Hebrew: כ ...

. Re-elected in 1951, he was part of the group that split from the party in 1953, when false accusations against its envoy during the

Prague Trials Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate oc ...

led to the party renouncing its support for the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. Sneh initially formed the

Left Faction The Left Faction ( he, סיעת שמאל, ''Siat Smol'') was a short-lived political party in Israel. History The Left Faction was formed on 20 February 1952 (during the second Knesset) as a breakaway from Mapam in the aftermath of the Prague T ...

, before joining

Maki Maki may refer to: People *Mäki, a Finnish surname (includes a list of people with the name) *Maki (name), a Japanese given name and surname (includes a list of people with the name) Places *Maki, Ravar, Kerman Province, Iran *Maki, Rigan, Ke ...

in 1954.

He returned to the Knesset on Maki's list in the 1955 elections, but narrowly missed winning seat in 1959. However, he entered the Knesset six weeks later as a replacement for

Meir Vilner Meir Vilner ( he, מאיר וילנר, born Bar Kovner; 23 October 1918 – 5 June 2003) was an Israeli communist politician and Jewish leader of the Communist Party of Israel (Maki), at one time a powerful force in the country. He was the yo ...

. Re-elected in 1961, Sneh remained in Maki when two of the party's MKs broke away to form Rakah in 1965. He lost his seat in the 1965 elections when Maki was reduced to one seat (most of its vote having gone to Rakah), but returned to the Knesset again in 1969, remaining the sole Maki MK until his death in March 1972.

References

External links

*
Moshe Sneh's biography
Knesset website {{DEFAULTSORT:Sneh, Moshe 1909 births 1972 deaths Polish emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Members of the Assembly of Representatives (Mandatory Palestine) Israeli military doctors Israeli journalists Haganah Jewish National Council members Jewish socialists Mapam politicians Left Faction politicians Maki (historical political 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 4th Knesset (1959–1961) Members of the 5th Knesset (1961–1965) Members of the 7th Knesset (1969–1974) Burials at Nahalat Yitzhak Cemetery 20th-century journalists Israeli communists

Biography

Political career

References

Further reading

External links