Yosef Kushnir ( he, יוסף קושניר, born 15 November 1900, died 6 January 1983) 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 Mapam ( he, מַפָּ״ם, an acronym for , ) was a left-wing political party in Israel. The party is one of the ancestors of the modern-day Meretz party. History Mapam was formed by a January 1948 merger of the kibbutz-based Hashomer Hatz ...

from 1960 until 1961, and again from 1962 until 1965.

Biography

Born in Bender in the

Bessarabia Governorate The Bessarabia Governorate (, ) was a part of the Russian Empire from 1812 to 1917. Initially known as Bessarabia Oblast (Бессарабская область, ''Bessarabskaya oblast'') as well as, following 1871, a governorate, it included ...

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

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

), Kushnir 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 ...

to Palestine in 1922. He studied at the Jerusalem Law School, and was certified as a lawyer. He became one of the leaders of

Poale Zion Left Poale Zion (also spelled Poalei Tziyon or Poaley Syjon, meaning "Workers of Zion") was a movement of Marxist–Zionist Jewish workers founded in various cities of Poland, Europe and the Russian Empire in about the turn of the 20th century after ...

, and was also involved in other

Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

groups in Mandate Palestine. In 1945 he joined the

Hashomer Hatzair Workers Party The Hashomer Hatzair Workers Party of Palestine ( he, מִפְלֶגֶת פּוֹעָלִים הַשׁוֹמֵר הַצָעִיר בְּאֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל ''Mifleget Poalim Hashomer Hatzair be'Eretz Yisrael'') was a Marxism, Marxist- ...

, which merged with

Ahdut HaAvoda Ahdut HaAvoda ( he, אַחְדוּת הַעֲבוֹדָה, lit. ''Labour Unity'') was the name used by a series of political parties. Ahdut HaAvoda in its first incarnation was led by David Ben-Gurion. It was first established during the period ...

to form Mapam in 1948. Kushnir became a member of its central committee, and was a member of the secretariat of its Haifa branch. Between 1950 and 1955 he was a member of

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 ...

city council, and also served as chairman of the city's branch of the Lawyers Union. He was on the Mapam list for the 1959 Knesset elections, but failed to win a seat. However, he entered the Knesset on 10 July 1960 as a replacement for Haim Yehuda. Although he lost his seat in the 1961 elections, he returned to the Knesset on 24 October 1962 as a replacement for the deceased Hanan Rubin.Knesset Members of the Fifth Knesset
Knesset website He lost his seat again in the 1965 elections. Kushnir died in 1983 at the age of 82.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kushnir, Yosef 1900 births 1983 deaths People from Bender, Moldova People from Bendersky Uyezd Moldovan Jews Soviet emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Jews in Mandatory Palestine Israeli people of Moldovan-Jewish descent Mapam politicians Members of the 4th Knesset (1959–1961) Members of the 5th Knesset (1961–1965) Jewish socialists 20th-century Israeli lawyers