Yehudit Simhonit (sometimes Simhoni;Her actual surname is "Simhoni"; however it was customary for Russian speakers to add a "t" ( he, "ת") suffix to surnames of women he, יהודית שמחונית; 24 January 1902 – 5 December 1991) was a Zionist activist and politician.

Biography

Simhonit was born in Nahar-Tov, an agricultural settlement in the

Kherson Oblast Kherson Oblast ( uk, Херсо́нська о́бласть, translit=Khersónsʹka óblastʹ, ), also known as Khersonshchyna ( uk, Херсо́нщина, ), is an oblast (province) in southern Ukraine, currently claimed and partly occupied ...

of 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

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

), and attended an agricultural high school. In 1917 she joined the Zionist Student Youth Federation. In 1921 she and her husband Mordechai Simhoni 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 ...

, and settled in

Nahalal Nahalal ( he, נַהֲלָל) is a moshav in northern Israel. Covering 8.5 square kilometers, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Jezreel Valley Regional Council. In it had a population of . Nahalal is best known for its general layout, as d ...

, the newly established first

moshav A moshav ( he, מוֹשָׁב, plural ', lit. ''settlement, village'') is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 an ...

. In 1927 she became a member of the Union of Women Workers. She moved to kibbutz Tel Yosef in 1931, and moved again to

Geva Geva ( he, גֶּבַע, ''lit.'' Hill) is a kibbutz in the Jezreel Valley in Israel. Located near the city of Afula, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gilboa Regional Council. In it had a population of . History Geva was founded in 1921 by Je ...

in 1943. A member of

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 ...

, she represented the party in the fourth Assembly of Representatives. In 1949 she was

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...

to the first Knesset on the Mapai list. However, she resigned from the Knesset on 5 February 1951 and was replaced by

Herzl Berger Dr Herzl Berger ( be, Герцаль Бергер; ‎; 31 July 1904 – 28 August 1962) was a Minsk-born Israeli activist and politician. He served as a member of the Knesset for Mapai between 1951 and 1962. Biography Born in Minsk in the ...

. She later worked as 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 co-ordinating committee and chief cultural and welfare officer of the

IDF IDF or idf may refer to: Defence forces * Irish Defence Forces * Israel Defense Forces *Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006 * Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917 Organizations * Israeli Diving Federation * Interac ...

's Women's Corps. Between 1960 and 1965 she served as head of the Histadrut's International Relations Department. In 1965 she left Mapai and was a founding member of

David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; he, דָּוִד בֶּן-גּוּרִיּוֹן ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary national founder of the State of Israel and the first prime minister of Israel. Adopting the name ...

's new Rafi party, and was amongst its leadership until the party was dissolved in 1968. She died in 1991. Her son, Major General

Asaf Simhoni Asaf Simhoni (Also spelled Asaf Simchoni; he, אסף שמחוני; October 9, 1922 - November 6, 1956) was a major general in the IDF, served as head of Northern Command, Assistant Head of Operations Directorate, and later as the Head of Southe ...

, was killed in a plane crash at the end of the

Sinai War The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...

. Her grandson, Avner Simhoni, was killed in 1968 when a mine exploded in the

Gulf of Suez The Gulf of Suez ( ar, خليج السويس, khalīǧ as-suwais; formerly , ', "Sea of Calm") is a gulf at the northern end of the Red Sea, to the west of the Sinai Peninsula. Situated to the east of the Sinai Peninsula is the smaller Gulf of ...

during the military operations in the

War of Attrition The War of Attrition ( ar, حرب الاستنزاف, Ḥarb al-Istinzāf; he, מלחמת ההתשה, Milhemet haHatashah) involved fighting between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and their allies from ...

Note

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simhonit, Yehudit 1902 births 1991 deaths People from Kherson Governorate Ukrainian Jews Zionist activists Soviet emigrants to Israel Jews in Mandatory Palestine Israeli trade unionists Women members of the Knesset Members of the Assembly of Representatives (Mandatory Palestine) Members of the 1st Knesset (1949–1951) 20th-century Israeli Jews Mapai politicians Rafi (political party) politicians 20th-century Israeli women politicians Jewish women politicians Ukrainian Zionists People from Nahalal Kibbutzniks