Eri Jabotinsky (, also transliterated ''Ari'', 26 December 1910 – 6 June 1969) was a

Revisionist Zionist Revisionist Zionism is a form of Zionism characterized by territorial maximalism. Revisionist Zionism promoted expansionism and the establishment of a Jewish majority on both sides of the Jordan River. Developed by Ze'ev Jabotinsky in the 1920s ...

activist,

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 academic mathematician. He was the son of

Ze'ev Jabotinsky Ze'ev Jabotinsky (born Vladimir Yevgenyevich Zhabotinsky; 17 October 1880 – 3 August 1940) was a Russian-born author, poet, orator, soldier, and founder of the Revisionist Zionist movement and the Jewish Self-Defense Organization in O ...

, the founder of the opposition movement within

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 ...

at the time, and later served in the Knesset between 1949 and 1951, as a member of the opposition

Herut Herut () was the major conservative nationalist political party in Israel from 1948 until its formal merger into Likud in 1988. It was an adherent of Revisionist Zionism. Some of their policies were compared to those of the Nazi party. Early y ...

party of

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 ...

. Following his break with the party, he pursued his academic career.

Biography

Jabotinsky was born in

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

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 ...

in 1910. In 1919 the family

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 ...

to British-controlled Palestine. Following the arrest of his father the following year, he moved to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, attending high school in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and later earning a degree in electrical engineering. Between 1933 and 1935 he worked as an engineer in an aircraft factory. In 1935 he returned to Palestine, and worked as an engineer at the

Naharayim Naharayim ( literally "Two rivers"), historically the Jisr Majami area ( literally "Meeting bridge" area), is the area where the Yarmouk River flows into the Jordan River. It was the site of the "First Jordan Hydro-Electric Power House", con ...

power station in the Jordan Valley. A long-term member of Revisionism's

Betar The Betar Movement (), also spelled Beitar (), is a Revisionist Zionism, Revisionist Zionist youth movement founded in 1923 in Riga, Latvia, by Ze'ev Jabotinsky, Vladimir (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky. It was one of several right-wing youth movements tha ...

youth movement, he became one of its representative leaders in 1936, and joined its worldwide board two years later. With Betar and the party's military wing,

Irgun The Irgun (), officially the National Military Organization in the Land of Israel, often abbreviated as Etzel or IZL (), was a Zionist paramilitary organization that operated in Mandatory Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was an offshoot of th ...

, he helped coordinate illegal Jewish immigration into Palestine. He was arrested by the British authorities in November 1937 and imprisoned in Acre Prison until February 1938. He was later imprisoned again in 1940, and held for six months. Upon his release he moved 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 ...

, where his father soon died suddenly. There, together with

Hillel Kook Hillel Kook (; 24 July 1915 –18 August 2001), also known as Peter Bergson (Hebrew: פיטר ברגסון), was a Revisionist Zionism, Revisionist Zionist activist and politician. Kook led the Irgun's efforts in the United States during W ...

's 'Bergson Boys', Aryeh Ben-Eliezer, Shmuel Merlin and Yitzhak Ben-Ami among others, he founded the Emergency Committee to Save European Jewry. He briefly returned to Palestine, but was again arrested by the British and expelled for illegal activities in 1944. Following Israel's independence he returned to the country in 1948, and was elected to the first Knesset the following year, as a member of the

party's list of candidates. On 20 February 1951 however, Jabotinsky and Hillel Kook left Herut, and sat as independents for the rest of the term, although the move was not recognised by the house committee.Mergers and Splits Among Parliamentary Groups
Knesset website This followed on from disagreements over the party's direction and its new leadership by

. After leaving the Knesset, he earned a PhD in mathematics in 1957 from the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

. He also lectured on electricity theory at the Technion between 1955 and his death in 1969. He was the father-in-law of Anatoly Rubin.

Academic publications

* * * * * * * *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jabotinsky, Ari 1910 births 1969 deaths Odesa Jews Ukrainian emigrants to Mandatory Palestine 20th-century Israeli engineers Israeli educators 20th-century Israeli Jews Academic staff of Technion – Israel Institute of Technology Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni 20th-century Israeli mathematicians Ze'ev Jabotinsky Betar members Herut politicians Members of the 1st Knesset (1949–1951) Inmates of Acre Prison Immigrants of the Third Aliyah