Dov Hoz (; September 19, 1894 - December 29, 1940) was a leader of the

Labor Zionism Labor Zionism () or socialist Zionism () is the left-wing, socialist variant of Zionism. For many years, it was the most significant tendency among Zionists and Zionist organizations, and was seen as the Zionist faction of the historic Jewish ...

movement, one of the founders of the

Haganah Haganah ( , ) was the main Zionist political violence, Zionist paramilitary organization that operated for the Yishuv in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine. It was founded in 1920 to defend the Yishuv's presence in the reg ...

organization, and a pioneer of Israeli

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...

Biography

Born in

Orsha Orsha (; , ; ) is a city in Vitebsk Region, Belarus. It is situated on the fork of the Dnieper, Dnieper River and Arshytsa River, and it serves as the administrative center of Orsha District. As of 2025, it has a population of 101,662. History ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, in 1894, Hoz immigrated to

Ottoman Palestine The region of Palestine (region), Palestine is part of the wider region of the Levant, which represents the land bridge between Africa and Eurasia.Steiner & Killebrew, p9: "The general limits ..., as defined here, begin at the Plain of ' ...

as a child along with his family in 1906. Beginning in 1909, he was part of the group that organized guarding activity of the city of Tel-Aviv. The group included Shaul Meirov-Avigur, Eliyahu Golomb and

Moshe Sharett Moshe Sharett (; born Moshe Chertok (); 15 October 1894 – 7 July 1965) was the second prime minister of Israel and the country’s first foreign minister. He signed the Israeli Declaration of Independence and was a principal negotiator in th ...

. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Hoz volunteered for service in the Turkish army and was sentenced to death for continuing activities to secure the Jewish settlement of Palestine. He escaped death by fleeing to the south of Palestine which had just been conquered by the British. Hoz was one of the organizers of the Jewish Legion. From 1920 to 1930, he was a member of the central Haganah committee. From 1931 to 1940, he was a member of the national Haganah command center. He went on to become one of the heads of the labor movement and a founding member of the socialist

Ahdut HaAvoda Ahdut HaAvoda () was the name used by a series of List of political parties in Israel, political parties in Israel. Ahdut HaAvoda in its first incarnation was led by David Ben-Gurion. It was first established during the period of Mandatory Pales ...

party. In 1935 he was appointed vice-mayor of Tel-Aviv, and later head of the state department of the

Histadrut Histadrut, fully the New General Workers' Federation () and until 1994 the General Federation of Labour in the Land of Israel (, ''HaHistadrut HaKlalit shel HaOvdim B'Eretz Yisrael''), is Israel's national trade union center and represents the m ...

(Labor Federation). Hoz died in a car accident in December 1940. He was on his way to an '' Aviron'' board meeting. He was traveling with his wife Rivka (sister of

, who later became Israel's second prime minister) and his daughter Tirza. Also in the car were his sister-in-law Tzvia Sharett and ''Aviron'' co-founder Yitzhak Ben-Ya'akov. All five people were killed in the accident.

Aviation

Hoz and Yitzhak Ben Ya'akov from

Degania Alef Degania Alef (, ) is a kibbutz in northern Israel. The Jewish communal settlement ('' kvutza'') was founded in 1910, making it the earliest Labor Zionist farming commune in the Land of Israel. Its status as "the mother of all kibbutzim" is some ...

were the founders of Aviron Aviation Company, for which Hoz acted as CEO. Aviron was one of a handful of aviation pioneering enterprises of the

Yishuv The Yishuv (), HaYishuv Ha'ivri (), or HaYishuv HaYehudi Be'Eretz Yisra'el () was the community of Jews residing in Palestine prior to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. The term came into use in the 1880s, when there were about 2 ...

, created with its foreseeable security needs in mind. It trained pilots and established flight lines in Mandatory Palestine and outside, while serving as cover for the budding, tiny and illegal "

air force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

" of the Yishuv, eventually organised between 1945 and 10 November 1947 as

Palmach The Palmach (Hebrew: , acronym for , ''Plugot Maḥatz'', "Strike Phalanges/Companies") was the elite combined strike forces and sayeret unit of the Haganah, the paramilitary organization of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the period of th ...

's Palavir, and then until Independence as the Haganah's

Sherut Avir The Sherut Avir (, ''Air Service'') was the air force of the Haganah and the forerunner of the Israeli Air Force. Founding The Sherut Avir was founded on 10 November 1947, just two weeks prior to the passing of the 1947 UN Partition Plan on 29 ...

Legacy and commemoration

One year after Hoz's death, on

Hanukkah Hanukkah (, ; ''Ḥănukkā'' ) is a Jewish holidays, Jewish festival commemorating the recovery of Jerusalem and subsequent rededication of the Second Temple at the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd ce ...

1941, Kibbutz Dorot was established in the Negev by German Jewish refugees. They dedicated their new home to the memory of the Hoz family. (Dorot is an acronym formed by the first letters of the names Dov, Rivka and Tirza.) Many national and local institutions and streets throughout Israel have been named in memory of Dov Hoz in the years since his tragic death. Tel Aviv's former city airport, Sde Dov Airport, was also named after him.Huldai: Sde Dov airport is here to stay for at least 15 years

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoz, Dov 1894 births 1940 deaths Haganah members Ashkenazi Jews in Mandatory Palestine Ashkenazi Jews from Ottoman Palestine Jews from the Russian Empire Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the Ottoman Empire Ottoman military personnel of World War I Ahdut HaAvoda politicians Road incident deaths in Mandatory Palestine Burials at Trumpeldor Cemetery Russian escapees Russian prisoners sentenced to death Russian Zionists People from Orsha Prisoners sentenced to death by the Ottoman Empire Immigrants of the Second Aliyah