David Remez (; 23 May 1886 – 19 May 1951) was an Israeli politician, the country's first Minister of Transportation, and a signatory of the Israeli declaration of independence.

Biography

Remez was born David Drabkin in the village of Kopys in the

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 ...

(now in

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

) in 1886.David Remez
Knesset After attending high school he studied law in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

before starting work as a teacher. He moved to Ottoman

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

in 1913, and worked as an agricultural laborer in Ben Shemen, Be'er Tuvia, Karkur and Zikhron Ya'akov.David Remez bio
/ref> He became involved in politics and

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

ism soon after the Mandate era began, serving as Director of the Public Works Office of the Histadrut and Solel Boneh from 1921 to 1929 as well as on

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

's city council from 1921 to 1925, and was a founding member of

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 ...

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 ...

party. He became Secretary of the Histadrut in 1930, a position he retained until 1946, and also chaired the Jewish National Council from 1944 to 1949. Having signed Israel's declaration of independence, Remez was appointed Minister of Transportation in

provisional government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, a transitional government or provisional leadership, is a temporary government formed to manage a period of transition, often following state collapse, revoluti ...

on 14 May 1948, a position he retained after the formation of the first government following the first Knesset elections in 1949. When the first government collapsed in November 1950, Remez became Education Minister taking over from Zalman Shazar. He died in office in May 1951, the first Israeli minister to do so. His Knesset seat was taken by Menachem Cohen. After his death several places in Israel were named after him, among them the

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

neighborhood Ramot Remez and Remez Square in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. His son, Aharon Remez was the second commander of the Israeli Air Force.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Remez, David 1886 births 1951 deaths Belarusian Jews City councillors of Tel Aviv-Yafo Educators from the Russian Empire Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the Ottoman Empire Farmworkers General secretaries of Histadrut Israeli farmers Israeli prisoners and detainees Israeli people of Belarusian-Jewish descent Istanbul University Faculty of Law alumni Jewish Israeli politicians Jews from Ottoman Palestine Jews from the Russian Empire Mapai politicians Members of the Assembly of Representatives (Mandatory Palestine) Members of the 1st Knesset (1949–1951) Ministers of education of Israel Ministers of transport of Israel People from Goretsky Uyezd People from Orsha district Signatories of the Israeli Declaration of Independence Jewish National Council members 20th-century farmers Prisoners and detainees of the British military Immigrants of the Second Aliyah