Peretz Naftali ( he, פרץ נפתלי, born Fritz Naftali, 19 March 1888 – 30 April 1961) was a

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

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 who served in several ministerial portfolios in the 1950s.

Biography

Born in Berlin in Germany, Naftali joined the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

in 1911. He served in the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

between 1911 and 1912, after which he started to work as a journalist on economic affairs, returning to the army for a spell in 1917–18 to fight in World War I. In 1921, he became editor of the economics department of the

Frankfurter Zeitung The ''Frankfurter Zeitung'' () was a German-language newspaper that appeared from 1856 to 1943. It emerged from a market letter that was published in Frankfurt. In Nazi Germany, it was considered the only mass publication not completely controll ...

, a post he held until 1926, when he became head of the economic research department of a trade union. In 1921, he also published a book, ''How to read the Economic Section of the Newspaper'', which was a bestseller.Peretz Naftali: Public activities
Knesset website In 1925, he had joined the Zionism movement, and in 1931 was a delegate to the Zionist Congress. He made

aliyah Aliyah (, ; he, עֲלִיָּה ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel, which is in the modern era chiefly represented by the State of Israel. Traditionally descri ...

in 1933, initially working as a lecturer at the Technion, before becoming director general of

Bank Hapoalim Bank Hapoalim ( he, בנק הפועלים lit. ''The Workers' Bank'') is one of Israel's largest banks. History The bank was established in 1921 by the '' Histadrut'', the Israeli trade union congress (lit. "General Federation of Laborers in the ...

in 1938, a post he held until 1949. Between 1941 and 1948 he served as a member of the Assembly of Representatives. 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 (wit ...

in 1949 on

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 ...

's list. After being re-elected in 1951, he was appointed

Minister without Portfolio A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet ...

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 nam ...

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

. In June 1952, he became

Minister of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister ...

, a role he held until the 1955 elections, after which he reverted to being a Minister without Portfolio. In January 1959, he became Minister of Welfare, but lost his Knesset seat and place in the cabinet in the 1959 elections.

Literature

''Wirtschaftsdemokratie: Ihr Wesen, Weg und Ziel.''
Herausgegeben im Auftrag des Allgemeinen Deutschen Gewerkschaftsbundes von Fritz Naphtali. Berlin: Verlagsgesellschaft des Allgemeinen Deutschen Gewerkschaftsbundes, GmbH.; 1928.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Naftali, Peretz 1888 births 1961 deaths German economists Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Mandatory Palestine German male journalists 20th-century German journalists German male writers German Army personnel of World War I Israeli economists Mapai politicians Members of the Assembly of Representatives (Mandatory Palestine) Members of the 1st Knesset (1949–1951) Members of the 2nd Knesset (1951–1955) Members of the 3rd Knesset (1955–1959) Ministers of Agriculture of Israel Journalists from Berlin