Yigal Hurvitz ( he, יִגָּאֵל הורביץ; 15 October 1918 – 10 January 1994) was an Israeli politician who served as a government minister in the late 1970s and 1980s.

Biography

Hurvitz was born in Nahlat Yehuda (today part of

Rishon LeZion Rishon LeZion ( he, רִאשׁוֹן לְצִיּוֹן , ''lit.'' First to Zion, Arabic: راشون لتسيون) is a city in Israel, located along the central Israeli coastal plain south of Tel Aviv. It is part of the Gush Dan metropolitan ...

) in 1918. Between 1938 and 1941 he was a member of the secretariat of HaNoar HaOved VeHaLomed, and served in the

Jewish Brigade The Jewish Infantry Brigade Group, more commonly known as the Jewish Brigade Group or Jewish Brigade, was a military formation of the British Army in the World War II, Second World War. It was formed in late 1944 and was recruited among Yishuv, Y ...

during World War II. In 1961 he joined

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 ...

and became a member of the party's central committee. He also served as a member of the Moshavim Movement's secretariat between 1961 and 1965. In 1965 he joined

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 ...

's new Rafi party alongside his brother Amos, and followed Ben-Gurion to the new

National List The National List ( he, רשימה ממלכתית, ''Reshima Mamlakhtit''), sometimes translated as the State List, was a political party in Israel. Despite being founded by David Ben-Gurion, one of the fathers of the Israeli left, the party is ...

in 1969, whilst Amos remained in Rafi. In that year 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 ...

on the party's list. Following its merger into the new

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 S ...

alliance in 1973, Hurvitz was re-elected on Likud's list. He was re-elected in 1977, and was appointed Minister of Industry & Tourism, a role he held until October 1978. In November 1979 he was appointed

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

, but left the cabinet again on 13 January 1981. On 26 January he and two other Likud MKs broke away from the Likud to form Rafi – National List. On 19 May he left the new faction to join

Moshe Dayan Moshe Dayan ( he, משה דיין; 20 May 1915 – 16 October 1981) was an Israeli military leader and politician. As commander of the Jerusalem front in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (1953–1958) dur ...

's Telem. After being placed third on Telem's list, he lost his seat in the 1981 elections when the party won only two seats. However, following Dayan's death in October 1981, Hurvitz re-entered the Knesset as his replacement. In June 1983 he left Telem and re-formed Rafi – National List. Shortly before the 1984 elections he renamed it Ometz (lit. ''Courage''). Although the party won only a single seat in the elections (taken by Hurvitz), it joined the

national unity government A national unity government, government of national unity (GNU), or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties (or all major parties) in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other nat ...

, and Hurvitz 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 ...

, a role he held until 1988. In 1987 he re-joined Likud. He won re-election on Likud's list in the 1988 elections, but lost his seat in 1992.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hurvitz, Yigal 1918 births 1994 deaths People from Rishon LeZion Jews in Mandatory Palestine Likud politicians National List politicians Telem (1981 political party) politicians Rafi (political party) politicians Ometz (political party) politicians Ministers of Finance of Israel Members of the 7th Knesset (1969–1974) Members of the 8th Knesset (1974–1977) Members of the 9th Knesset (1977–1981) Members of the 10th Knesset (1981–1984) Members of the 11th Knesset (1984–1988) Members of the 12th Knesset (1988–1992) Mandatory Palestine military personnel of World War II Jewish Brigade personnel La'am politicians