Eitan Livni
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Yeruham "Eitan" Livni ( he, ירוחם "איתן" לבני; 1 April 1919 – 27 December 1991) was a
Revisionist Zionist Revisionist Zionism is an ideology developed by Ze'ev Jabotinsky, who advocated a "revision" of the "practical Zionism" of David Ben-Gurion and Chaim Weizmann which was focused on the settling of ''Eretz Yisrael'' ( Land of Israel) by independent ...
activist,
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 ...
commander and
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i politician, father of Israeli politician
Tzipi Livni Tziporah Malka "Tzipi" Livni ( he, ציפי (ציפורה) מלכה לבני, ; born 8 July 1958) is an Israeli politician, diplomat, and lawyer. A former member of the Knesset and leader in the center-left political camp, Livni is a former fore ...
.


Life and career

Livni was born in
Grodno Grodno (russian: Гродно, pl, Grodno; lt, Gardinas) or Hrodna ( be, Гродна ), is a city in western Belarus. The city is located on the Neman River, 300 km (186 mi) from Minsk, about 15 km (9 mi) from the Polish b ...
,
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 populous ...
(now in
Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
) on 1 April 1919 to Yitzhak and Dvora. His family moved 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 1925 and settled in
Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
. He went to High School and Trade School in Tel Aviv, and in 1938, 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 at
Zikhron Ya'akov Zikhron Ya'akov ( he, זִכְרוֹן יַעֲקֹב, ''lit.'' "Jacob's Memorial"; often shortened to just ''Zikhron'') is a town in Israel, south of Haifa, and part of the Haifa District. It is located at the southern end of the Carmel mounta ...
, where he was assigned to agricultural work and guard duty. Soon after, he joined the Irgun, and a year later, he was summoned to a commanders course at Tel Tzur (near
Binyamina Binyamina-Giv'at Ada ( he, בִּנְיָמִינָה-גִּבְעַת עָדָה) is a town in the Haifa District of Israel. It is the result of the 2003 merger between the two local councils of Binyamina and Giv'at Ada. In its population was . ...
). When the Irgun proclaimed its revolt against the
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
in February 1944, he was put in charge of the Irgun activities, and was later appointed to the General Headquarters as chief operations officer. He was arrested on April 4, 1946, for his participation in the sabotage operation against British railroads called "
Night of the Trains The Night of the Trains (or Operation Party) was a sabotage operation of the British railways in Palestine ("Palestine Railways") on November 1, 1945. The operation was one of the first carried out by the Jewish Resistance Movement, before its offi ...
", where an Irgun fighter, two British and four Arabs were killed, which was along with the
Night of the Airfields Night (also described as night time, unconventionally spelled as "nite") is the period of ambient darkness from sunset to sunrise during each 24-hour day, when the Sun is below the horizon. The exact time when night begins and ends depends o ...
and the
Night of the Bridges The Night of the Bridges (formally Operation Markolet) was a Haganah venture on the night of 16 to 17 June 1946 in the British Mandate of Palestine, as part of the Jewish insurgency in Palestine (1944–7). Its aim was to destroy eleven bridges l ...
led a forceful British retaliation, and 2 weeks later
Operation Agatha Operation Agatha (Saturday, June 29, 1946), sometimes called Black Sabbath ( he, השבת השחורה) or Black Saturday because it began on the Jewish sabbath, was a police and military operation conducted by the British authorities in Mandator ...
. He was sentenced, together with his comrades, to 15 years imprisonment, but was freed two years later in the
Acre Prison break The Acre Prison break was an operation undertaken by the Irgun on May 4, 1947, in the British Mandate of Palestine, in which its men broke through the walls of the Central Prison in Acre and freed 27 incarcerated Irgun and Lehi members. History ...
. He was sent clandestinely to
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
to organize action against British targets there, and on May 15, 1948, he returned home to take part in the
1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 (or First) Arab–Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had ...
. After Israel was established in 1948, he and Sara Rosenberg, a fellow Irgun activist, became the first couple to marry in the new Jewish state. He was chairman of the Wood Products Department of the Industrialists Association from 1949 to 1959, and owner of the “Ariah” Starch Factory until 1965. He was a member of the Directorate and Secretariat of the
Herut Herut ( he, חֵרוּת, ''Freedom'') was the major conservative nationalist political party in Israel from 1948 until its formal merger into Likud in 1988. It was an adherent of Revisionist Zionism. History Herut was founded by Menachem Begin ...
Movement in 1960 and Head of its Organization Department in 1965. He was also the chairman of the Union of Irgun Soldiers between 1962 and 1980 and chairman of
Acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...
and
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
Prisoners Association in 1963. In 1968, he became a member of Directorate of
Gahal Gahal ( he, גח"ל, an acronym for ''Gush Herut–Liberalim'' (Hebrew: ), ''lit.'' ''Freedom–Liberals Bloc'') was the main right-leaning political alliance in Israel, ranging from the centre-right to right-wing, from its founding in 1965 until ...
and later of
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 ...
, and was the chairman of Directorate of Likud from 1970 to 1971. He was elected to 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 ...
in 1973, 1977 and 1981. He was a member of the Economic Affairs, Foreign Affairs and Defense and State Control Committees. He was politically moderate.Israel election: Who are the key candidates?
BBC (14 March 2015)
He died in 1991. At his specific request, the Irgun emblem was engraved on his headstone. After his death, his daughter, Tzipi, entered the Israeli political scene, and has become a prominent minister for Likud and
Kadima Kadima ( he, קדימה, lit=''Forward'') was a centrist and liberal political party in Israel. It was established on 24 November 2005 by moderates from Likud largely following the implementation of Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan ...
. She was later elected leader of Kadima, but eventually left to form her own party,
Hatnuah Hatnua ( he, הַתְּנוּעָה, lit=''The Movement'') was a liberal political party in Israel formed by former Israeli Foreign Minister and Vice Prime Minister Tzipi Livni to present an alternative to voters frustrated by the stalemate in th ...
.


Bibliography

* Personal Story of Operations Officer of Etzel (1983)


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Livni, Eitan 1919 births 1991 deaths Belarusian Jews Betar members Gahal politicians Herut politicians Irgun members 20th-century Israeli Jews Israeli people of Belarusian-Jewish descent Likud politicians Members of the 8th Knesset (1974–1977) Members of the 9th Knesset (1977–1981) Members of the 10th Knesset (1981–1984) People from Grodno Polish emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Burials at Nahalat Yitzhak Cemetery