Ya'akov Riftin ( he, יעקב ריפתין,16 March 1907 – 14 May 1978) 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 Mapam between 1949 and 1965.

Biography

Born in Wólka Profecka near

Puławy Puławy (, also written Pulawy) is a city in eastern Poland, in Lesser Poland's Lublin Voivodeship, at the confluence of the Vistula and Kurówka Rivers. Puławy is the capital of Puławy County. The city's 2019 population was estimated at 47,4 ...

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 populou ...

), Riftin joined the HaShomer youth movement, and was later a member of Hashomer Hatzair, becoming one of the leaders of the movement in Poland. He made aliyah to

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 1929, and joined kibbutz

Ein Shemer Ein Shemer is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located in the Shomron region to the south of Route 65, about 6 km northeast of Hadera, it falls under the jurisdiction of Menashe Regional Council. In , it had a population of . Etymology Ein � ...

in 1931. Riftin also joined the Histadrut trade union, becoming a member of its executive committee and co-ordinating committee. He served as a member of the Assembly of Representatives and of 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 ...

, as well as being a member of the

Yishuv Yishuv ( he, ישוב, literally "settlement"), Ha-Yishuv ( he, הישוב, ''the Yishuv''), or Ha-Yishuv Ha-Ivri ( he, הישוב העברי, ''the Hebrew Yishuv''), is the body of Jewish residents in the Land of Israel (corresponding to the ...

's security committee. During 1947 and 1948 he was part of the Jewish delegation to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

, and served as the political secretary of the Israeli delegation from independence (in 1948) until 1954. Despite being part of the UN delegation, he was elected to the Knesset in 1949, and was re-elected in

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

, 1955,

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 of E ...

and

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 (K ...

. According to the

Vasili Mitrokhin Vasili Nikitich Mitrokhin (russian: link=no, Васи́лий Ники́тич Митро́хин; March 3, 1922 – January 23, 2004) was a major and senior archivist for the Soviet Union's foreign intelligence service, the First Chief Di ...

documents, Riftin regularly passed on classified documents, including top secret ones, to the Soviet Embassy. He lost his seat in the 1965 elections. A member of the left-wing group in Mapam, he left the party in 1968 when it formed an alliance with the Labor Party in 1968, and formed the Left Independent Socialist Zionist Union, which unsuccessfully ran in Histadrut elections.Glossary of Israeli Parties and Personalities - 1948–1981
Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs He died in 1978.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Riftin, Yaakov 1907 births 1978 deaths People from Puławy County Zionists Polish emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Jews in Mandatory Palestine Jewish socialists Hashomer Hatzair members Members of the Assembly of Representatives (Mandatory Palestine) Israeli trade unionists Mapam 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)