Meir Ya'ari (; 24 April 1897 – 21 February 1987) was an Israeli politician, educator, and social activist. He was the leader of Hashomer Hatzair, Kibbutz Artzi, and

Mapam File:Pre-State_Zionist_Workers'_Parties_chart.png, chart of zionist workers parties, 360px, right rect 167 83 445 250 Hapoel Hatzair rect 450 88 717 265 The non-partisans (pre-state Zionist political movement), Non Partisans rect 721 86 995 243 ...

, and a member of the

Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

Biography

Meyer Wald (later Ya'ari) was born in 1897 in Kańczuga, in the Galicia province of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

. His family came from a long lineage of rabbinic scholars. At half a year old, he and his family moved to

Rzeszów Rzeszów ( , ) is the largest city in southeastern Poland. It is located on both sides of the Wisłok River in the heartland of the Sandomierz Basin. Rzeszów is the capital of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship and the county seat, seat of Rzeszów C ...

, where he grew up. He would eventually become active in the Tze'irei Zion youth movement. At the outbreak of

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 ...

his family moved to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. At the age of 17 he volunteered for the Austrian Army and served as an officer until the end of the war. He studied at the Agricultural Academy and at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

. In 1919 he co-founded and co-led the Vienna branch of Hashomer Hatzair. In 1920, he made

aliyah ''Aliyah'' (, ; ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel or the Palestine (region), Palestine region, which is today chiefly represented by the Israel ...

(emigrated) to British-ruled Palestine. He worked at the Kinneret moshava and in the "Labour Battalion" ( Gdud HaAvoda), paving roads from Samakh (today's Tsemah Junction) to

Tiberias Tiberias ( ; , ; ) is a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Heb ...

and on to

Tabgha Tabgha (, ''al-Tabigha''; , ''Ein Sheva'' which means "spring of seven") is an area situated on the north-western shore of the Sea of Galilee in Israel and a depopulated Palestinian village. It is traditionally accepted as the place of the feedi ...

. His grandson, Yedidya Ya'ari, is a retired

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

general.

Zionist activism

Ya'ari was one of the founders of Bitania, the first collective settlement of Hashomer Hatzair.
Lessons from an exotic Zionist commune,

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...

He was among the founders of the Histadrut workers' syndicate. From 1924 onwards he served as Secretary of the world Hashomer Hatzair.Yaari Meir
The Labour Movement In 1927, he founded Kibbutz Artzi, was elected its secretary and took part in drafting its principles. In 1929, he was among the founders of Kibbutz Merhavia, where he lived until he died.

Political career

In 1948, he co-founded

political party as its leader, and functioned as its general secretary until 1973. He was a Mapam MK in the first through seventh

s, from 1949 to 1973. In the first Knesset he was member of the Knesset committee, and in the fifth through seventh Knessets he was member of Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. His movement co-leader and almost equal colleague was Yaakov Hazan. For many years, they led Hashomer Hatzair and Mapam together. Despite holding the top two positions in Mapam's list, they made a joint decision not to become ministers but rather occupy themselves in the movement's ideological and educational activities.

Views and opinions

As leader and ideologist of Hashomer Hatzair, he sought to turn it from a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

-like youth movement promoting abstract socialist-humanist ideas to a political settlement movement that integrates

Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

and

Marxism Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...

. He protested

David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary List of national founders, national founder and first Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister of the State of Israel. As head of the Jewish Agency ...

's activism and

Mapai Mapai (, an abbreviation for , ''Mifleget Poalei Eretz Yisrael'', ) was a Labor Zionist and democratic socialist political party in Israel, and was the dominant force in Israeli politics until its merger into the Israeli Labor Party in January ...

's moderate socialism. He regarded highly the achievements of

revolutionary socialism Revolutionary socialism is a political philosophy, doctrine, and tradition within socialism that stresses the idea that a social revolution is necessary to bring about structural changes in society. More specifically, it is the view that revo ...

in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, although he criticized its attitude towards Zionism. In the 1940s he opposed the Biltmore Program and supported the one-state solution. During Israel's early years, he objected his party's coalition membership and was an outspoken critic of the government's western orientation, the nationality conception, the Reparations Agreement and the

martial law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...

. At first, he supported the Soviet Union and tried, along with Moshe Sneh, to introduce Hashomer Hatzair's idea in Mapam. The exposure of Stalin's wrongdoings caused a schism in the Marxist orientation, resulting in the expulsion of Moshe Sneh's men from the party in 1953. Gradually, admiration of the Soviet Union lessened and inclination to cooperate with Mapai increased, and in 1955 Mapam indeed joined Mapai in the coalition. After the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

he expressed a relatively hawkish stand by opposing immediate withdrawal from the occupied territories. In 1969 he supported Mapam's alliance with Mapai as part of the Alignment; in 1984, he would support staying in the Alignment until the formation of the national unity government in 1984.

Political legacy

To his honor, the Association for Progressive Education in Honor of Meir Ya'ari (YAARI) was founded. Over the past decades YAARI envisioned, designed and implemented many peace-building projects in the region and especially in Cyprus. YAARI has also implemented a large-scale EC supported project known as Act Beyond Borders, which promoted reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians through education.

References

External links

*
The Birth of Hashomer Hatzair
Jewish Gen
Meir Ya'ari
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yaari, Meir 1897 births 1987 deaths People from Przeworsk County People from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Jews from Galicia (Eastern Europe) Jews from Austria-Hungary Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I Austrian emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Austrian Zionists Jewish socialists Israeli communists Hashomer Hatzair members Mapam leaders Alignment (Israel) 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) Members of the 4th Knesset (1959–1961) Members of the 5th Knesset (1961–1965) Members of the 6th Knesset (1965–1969) Members of the 7th Knesset (1969–1974) Leaders of the opposition (Israel) Jewish Israeli politicians People from Merhavia Immigrants of the Third Aliyah