Aharon Becker (; 21 December 1905 – 24 December 1995) was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset between 1955 and 1974.

Biography

Born in

Kobryn Kobryn or Kobrin is a town in Brest Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Kobryn District. It is located in the southwestern corner of Belarus, where the Mukhavets river and Dnieper–Bug Canal meet. The town lies about east ...

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 ...

), Becker was educated at a

heder A ''cheder'' (, lit. 'room'; Yiddish pronunciation: ''khéyder'') is a traditional primary school teaching the basics of Judaism and the Hebrew language. History ''Cheders'' were widely found in Europe before the end of the 18th century. L ...

and gymnasium.Aharon Becker: Particulars
Knesset He joined Tze'irei Zion, and was a member until the organisation was disbanded by the Bolsheviks in 1920.Aharon Becker: Public Activities
Knesset After Kobryn became part of

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 studied bookkeeping at a local trade school. In 1925 he

emigrated Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

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 ...

, and initially worked as an agricultural labourer in

Petah Tikva Petah Tikva (, ), also spelt Petah Tiqwa and known informally as Em HaMoshavot (), is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel, east of Tel Aviv. It was founded in 1878, mainly by Haredi Judaism, Haredi Jews of the Old Y ...

, before moving into construction. In 1926 he was amongst the founders of the Hebrew Socialist Youth, and also became a member of

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 ...

. Between 1928 and 1932 he was secretary of the

Ramat Gan Ramat Gan (, ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv, and is part of the Gush Dan, Gush Dan metropolitan area. It is home to a Diamond Exchange District (one of the world's major diamond exch ...

Workers Committee, before serving as a member of the Tel Aviv Workers Council from 1932 until 1943. He became a member 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 ...

's central committee, and headed its labour union department from 1949 until 1960. From 1961 until 1969 he served as the Histadrut's secretary. In 1948 he travelled to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to purchase arms for the IDF. Between 1948 and 1949 he was director in the Ministry of Defense, before becoming Managing Director of the Supply Authority, which supplied civilian equipment to soldiers. In 1955 he was elected to the Knesset on the

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 ...

list, but resigned his seat on 1 October the following year. He returned to the Knesset following the 1959 elections, but resigned again on 23 May 1960. He returned to the Knesset for a third time after the 1961 elections and was re-elected in

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

. In 1966 he requested to stand down as Histadrut leader for personal reasons, but was re-elected after Prime Minister

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 ...

asked Mapai members to require Becker to remain in post. However, in June 1969 he announced that he would not stand in the Histadrut elections in September that year, and was succeeded by Yitzhak Ben-Aharon. He was re-elected to the Knesset again in October 1969, but lost his seat in the 1973 elections after being placed low down the party's list.22 Lists File for Knesset Elections
Jewish Telegraph Agency, 27 September 1973 After leaving the Knesset he became chairman of the Kupat Holim health fund's central committee in 1974. He died in 1995 at the age of 90. A street in

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 ...

is named after him.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Becker, Aharon 1905 births 1995 deaths People from Kobryn People from Kobrinsky Uyezd 20th-century Belarusian Jews Polish emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Jews from Mandatory Palestine Israeli people of Belarusian-Jewish descent Mapai politicians Alignment (Israel) politicians Israeli Labor Party politicians General secretaries of Histadrut Israeli civil servants 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) Burials at Kiryat Shaul Cemetery Immigrants of the Fourth Aliyah