Shmuel "Mooki" Katz ( he, שמואל "מוקי" כץ 9 December 1914 – 9 May 2008) was an Israeli writer, historian and

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

. Prior to the formation of the State of Israel, he was a

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

activist and member 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 ...

High Command. He was a member of 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 ...

and is also known for his biography of Jewish leader

Ze'ev Jabotinsky Ze'ev Jabotinsky ( he, זְאֵב זַ׳בּוֹטִינְסְקִי, ''Ze'ev Zhabotinski'';, ''Wolf Zhabotinski'' 17 October 1880 – 3 August 1940), born Vladimir Yevgenyevich Zhabotinsky, was a Russian Jewish Revisionist Zionist leade ...

.The Best Biography of Jabotinsky: The Lone Wolf
Jewish Post

Biography

Katz was born in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. His parents were Alexander and Luba Katz. In 1930, he joined the

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 t ...

movement. In 1936, Katz

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 ...

as the secretary of Michael Haskel, the South African honorary consul. Soon after his arrival, he joined the

. In 1939, he was sent to London by

to speak on issues concerning Palestine. While there he founded the revisionist publication “The Jewish Standard” and was its editor, 1939–1941, and in 1945. In 1946, Katz returned to Mandatory Palestine and joined the HQ of the Irgun where he was active in the aspect of foreign relations. He was one of the seven members of the high command of the Irgun, as well as a spokesman of the organization. Katz also served as Irgun commander in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

during the War of Independence.

Menachem Begin Menachem Begin ( ''Menaḥem Begin'' (); pl, Menachem Begin (Polish documents, 1931–1937); ''Menakhem Volfovich Begin''; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of Israel. B ...

writes in "The Revolt" that Katz "was the officer responsible for Jerusalem until the dissolution of the military regiments of the Irgun Zvai Leumi."

Political career

In 1977, Katz became "Adviser to the Prime Minister for Information Abroad" to Menachem Begin. He accompanied Begin on two trips to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and was asked to explain some points to President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

. He quit this task on January 5, 1978 because of differences with the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

over peace proposals with

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. Katz was then active with the

Tehiya Tehiya ( he, תחיה, ''Revival''), originally known as Banai (Hebrew: , an acronym for ''Land of Israel Loyalists' Alliance'' (Hebrew: )), then Tehiya-Bnai (Hebrew: ), was an ultranationalist political party in Israel. The party existed from ...

party for some years and later with

Herut – The National Movement Herut – The National Movement ( he, חרות – התנועה הלאומית, ''Herut – HaTnu'a HaLeumit''), commonly known as just Herut (), was a minor right-wing political party in Israel. Though it saw itself as the ideological successor ...

after it split away from the ruling

Likud Likud ( he, הַלִּיכּוּד, HaLikud, The Consolidation), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement, is a major centre-right to right-wing political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon ...

Literary career

Katz's '' Battleground: Fact and Fantasy in Palestine'' describes the roots of the

Arab–Israeli conflict The Arab–Israeli conflict is an ongoing intercommunal phenomenon involving political tension, military conflicts, and other disputes between Arab countries and Israel, which escalated during the 20th century, but had mostly faded out by the ...

and attempts to refute

anti-Zionist Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the modern State of Israel, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the region of Palestine ...

myths and

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

. Katz is the author of a two-volume

biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

of Jabotinsky entitled ''Lone Wolf, A Biography of Vladimir (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky''. In addition, he published a regular column for many years in ''

The Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Jerusalem Post''. In 2004, the paper w ...

''.

Published works

Books

* ''Days of Fire'' (1966, Hebrew; 1968, English edition by Doubleday)"Exposing Allied perfidy," Medoff, Rafael. Jerusalem Post, 11 June 2008, p. 15.

References

External links

*
Fact and Fantasy in the Holy Land
EretzYisrael.Org

MidEast Outpost

Freeman Center for Strategic Studies {{DEFAULTSORT:Katz, Shmuel (politician) 1914 births 2008 deaths 20th-century biographers Betar members burials at Yarkon Cemetery Herut – The National Movement politicians Herut politicians Irgun members Israeli biographers Israeli historians Israeli Jews Jewish historians members of the 1st Knesset (1949–1951) Movement for Greater Israel politicians South African emigrants to Mandatory Palestine South African Jews Tehiya politicians