Yehiel Leket ( he, יחיאל לקט, born 12 July 1941) is an Israeli

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 former politician who briefly 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 the

Alignment Alignment may refer to: Archaeology * Alignment (archaeology), a co-linear arrangement of features or structures with external landmarks * Stone alignment, a linear arrangement of upright, parallel megalithic standing stones Biology * Structu ...

in 1977.

Biography

Born in

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

during the Mandate era, Leket attended the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

, where he studied philosophy and political science. He began working at the Ministry of Education and Culture, and was the ministry's spokesman between 1965 and 1969, serving as chairman of the Government Ministrys' Spokesmens group between 1967 and 1968. In 1969 he became chairman of the young leadership of the Labor Party. He was on the Alignment list for the 1973 elections, but failed to win a seat. Between 1975 and 1976 served as the head

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 ...

emissary in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, and the following year entered the Knesset at the start of January as a replacement for Avraham Ofer,Knesset Members in the Eighth Knesset
Knesset website who had committed suicide following the

Yadlin affair The Yadlin affair ( he, פרשת ידלין, ''Parashat Yadlin'') was a political corruption scandal that broke in Israel in 1976, involving senior members of the Labor Party (then the major faction in the Alignment). It is often seen as one of t ...

. However, he lost his seat in the May 1977 elections. Between 1978 and 1982 Leket served as general secretaryu of the World Labor Zionist Organization, and from 1982 until 1989 as its chairman. From 1989 until 1992 he headed the Settlement Division of the

World Zionist Organization The World Zionist Organization ( he, הַהִסְתַּדְּרוּת הַצִּיּוֹנִית הָעוֹלָמִית; ''HaHistadrut HaTzionit Ha'Olamit''), or WZO, is a non-governmental organization that promotes Zionism. It was founded as the ...

, and between 1992 and 1996 headed the

Youth Aliyah Youth Aliyah (Hebrew: עלית הנוער, ''Aliyat Hano'ar'', German: Jugend-Alijah, Youth Immigration) is a Jewish organization that rescued thousands of Jewish children from the Nazis during the Third Reich. Youth Aliyah arranged for their r ...

department 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. ...

. In 1994 he briefly served as acting chairman of the WZO and the Jewish Agency, before being appointed head of the Department of Development and Settlement and chairman of Youth Aliyah in 1996.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leket, Yehiel 1941 births People from Haifa Jews in Mandatory Palestine Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni Israeli civil servants Living people Alignment (Israel) politicians Israeli Labor Party politicians Heads of the Jewish Agency for Israel Members of the 8th Knesset (1974–1977)