Moshe Kol (; 28 May 1911 – 7 July 1989) was a Zionist activist and

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i politician and one of the signatories of the Israeli declaration of independence.

Biography

Born Moshe Kolodny in Pinsk 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 ...

(today 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 ...

),Moshe Kol
Knesset Kol studied at a heder and Hebrew high school in his home town and was one of the founders of HaOved HaTzioni youth movement in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. He emigrated to

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

in 1932 and joined Kibbutz Hamefales in Kfar Saba, which was associated with HaOved HaTzioni. He joined the Histadrut trade union, serving as a member of its executive between 1941 and 1946, and also sat on the board of directors of the Jewish Agency for Israel, where he headed the Youth Aliyah department. On 15 May 1948 Kol was one of the people to sign the Israeli declaration of independence, and became a member of the Provisional State Council. He was also one of the founders of the Progressive Party. In July 1951 he was elected to the Knesset, but resigned six weeks later. He returned to the Knesset following the 1959 elections, and shortly after became a

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

MK when it was formed by a merger of the Progressive Party and the General Zionists. After retaining his seat in the 1961 elections, Kol was part of a group of largely ex-Progressive Party members which broke away from the Liberal Party to form the Independent Liberals in protest at its impending merger with

Menachem Begin Menachem Begin ( ''Menaḥem Begin'', ; (Polish documents, 1931–1937); ; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of both Herut and Likud and the prime minister of Israel. Before the creation of the state of Isra ...

's Herut. Following the 1965 elections, the Independent Liberals joined

Levi Eshkol Levi Eshkol ( ;‎ 25 October 1895 – 26 February 1969), born Levi Yitzhak Shkolnik (), was the prime minister of Israel from 1963 until his death from a heart attack in 1969. A founder of the Israeli Labor Party, he served in numerous seni ...

's coalition, and Kol was appointed Minister of Tourism and Minister of Development. In accordance with party policy, he resigned from the Knesset upon being appointed to the cabinet. After elections in 1969 and 1973 Kol was again appointed Minister of Tourism, and again vacated his Knesset seat. He lost his place in the Knesset in the 1977 elections when the party was reduced to just one seat. After leaving the Knesset he wrote several books on Israeli society and foreign affairs, and died in 1989.

Published works

*''Review of Youth Aliyah'' (1961) (Hebrew) *''Paths in Zionism and Liberalism'' (1964) (Hebrew) *''Paths in education and rehabilitation'' (1964) (Hebrew) *''The Struggle for Religious and Cultural Pluralism'' (1979) (Hebrew) *''The Struggle for Arab-Jewish Cooperation in Israel'' (1979) (Hebrew) *''Pathways: Autobiographical Events'' (1981) (Hebrew) *''Struggles and Projects'' (1984) (Hebrew) *''The Lebanese War and the Situation in the Occupied Territories'' (1984) (Hebrew)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kol, Moshe 1911 births 1989 deaths People from Pinsk People from Pinsky Uyezd Belarusian Jews Jews from the Russian Empire Polish emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Ashkenazi Jews in Mandatory Palestine Israeli people of Belarusian-Jewish descent Jewish Israeli politicians Progressive Party (Israel) politicians Liberal Party (Israel) politicians Independent Liberals (Israel) leaders Signatories of the Israeli Declaration of Independence Ministers of development of Israel Ministers of tourism of Israel Heads of the Jewish Agency for Israel Members of the 2nd Knesset (1951–1955) 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) Members of the 8th Knesset (1974–1977) Burials at the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives Immigrants of the Fifth Aliyah