Rafael Bash ( he, רפאל בש, 8 January 1913 – 10 March 2000) was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the first

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 three months in 1951.

Biography

Born 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. ...

in what is today

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

, Bash 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 1938. He joined kibbutz

Kfar Blum Kfar Blum ( he, כְּפַר בְּלוּם, ''lit.'' Blum Village) is a kibbutz in the Hula Valley part of the Upper Galilee in Israel. Located about southeast of the town of Kiryat Shmona, it falls under the jurisdiction of Upper Galilee Regio ...

, where he remained a member until 1956. He was on the

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 ...

list for the 1949 Knesset election, but missed out on a seat. In 1950, he became director of Mapai's youth department, a position he held until 1953. He entered the Knesset on 21 May 1951 as a replacement for Yosef-Michael Lamm,Knesset Members in the First Knesset
Knesset website who had resigned, but lost his seat in the July 1951 elections. In 1954, Bash became General Secretary of Mapai, serving until 1956. Between 1962 and 1966 he served as the party's secretary. He was also a member of the

Histadrut Histadrut, or the General Organization of Workers in Israel, originally ( he, ההסתדרות הכללית של העובדים בארץ ישראל, ''HaHistadrut HaKlalit shel HaOvdim B'Eretz Yisrael''), is Israel's national trade union center ...

's central committee, and became director of its Culture and Education centre in 1966. He also served on the secretariat of the Tel Aviv-Yafo Workers Council. He died in 2000 at the age of 87.

References

External links

* {{authority control 1913 births 2000 deaths Latvian Jews Latvian emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Israeli trade unionists Mapai politicians Members of the 1st Knesset (1949–1951) Burials at Yarkon Cemetery