Aryeh "Lova" Eliav (; 21 November 1921 – 30 May 2010) was an Israeli politician, author, intellectual and peace and social activist. He served as 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 ...

for several factions in three spells between 1965 and 1992. Bialik and Lova Eliav

Mohamed Assem Ibrahim with Loba and Tanya Eliav

Biography

Lev Lipschitz (later Aryeh Eliav) was born in Moscow. His family immigrated 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 1924. He studied history and sociology, gaining a BA 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. ...

and worked as a teacher and sociologist. He later served as a visiting professor in several American academic institutes, including two years at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

(1979–1980) and his two terms at Trinity College in the 1990s. As a teenager, he joined the

Haganah Haganah ( , ) was the main Zionist political violence, Zionist paramilitary organization that operated for the Yishuv in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine. It was founded in 1920 to defend the Yishuv's presence in the reg ...

in 1936, before joining the British Army in 1940, serving in an artillery unit. Upon his return home in 1945 he helped the Aliyah Bet movement and served as a colonel in the IDF. He later worked as an aide to

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 ...

on the topics of immigration, absorption and settlement. Between 1955 and 1957 he oversaw the foundation of several settlements in Lakhish Regional Council area. During the

Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, also known as the Second Arab–Israeli War, the Tripartite Aggression in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel, was a British–French–Israeli invasion of Egypt in 1956. Israel invaded on 29 October, having done so w ...

he supervised Operation Tushia, which transported the Jews of

Port Said Port Said ( , , ) is a port city that lies in the northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, straddling the west bank of the northern mouth of the Suez Canal. The city is the capital city, capital of the Port S ...

to Israel. In 1958 he returned to Moscow, where he worked as the first secretary in the Israeli embassy, a position he held until 1960. Eliav married Tania Zvi, a Holocaust survivor from Kaunas, Lithuania, who was part of a group of refugees Eliav smuggled into Palestine as the commander of an illegal immigration ship in 1947. They had three children, Zvi, Ofra and Eyal.

Political career

Eliav was first elected to the Knesset in the 1965 elections on the

Alignment Alignment may refer to: Archaeology * Alignment (archaeology), a co-linear arrangement of features or structures with external landmarks * Stone alignment, a linear arrangement of upright, parallel megalithic standing stones Biology * Struc ...

list, and was appointed Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry. During the Knesset term he became Deputy Minister of Immigrant Absorption. He retained his seat in the 1969 elections, but was not given a ministerial portfolio. He was instead appointed general secretary of the Labour Party, but resigned in 1971 over the party's refusal to recognise the existence of the Palestinian people. After again retaining his seat in the 1973 elections, he left the party, first sitting as an independent MK, before joining with the Ratz faction to form

Ya'ad – Civil Rights Movement Ya'ad – Civil Rights Movement (, ''Ya'ad – Tenoa'a LaZkhuyot HaEzrah''), commonly known as just Ya'ad, was a short-lived political party in Israel. It is not related to the other party by the name of Ya'ad, which existed during the ninth Kne ...

. However, the new party split up soon after its foundation, with Eliav founding a new party, the Social-Democratic Faction together with Marcia Freedman. The new party later changed its name to ''Independent Socialist Faction''. In the run up to the 1977 elections, he joined the Left Camp of Israel, due to his opposition to settlements in the occupied territories.Former Labor Leader Aryeh 'Lova' Eliav Dies at 89

Ynetnews Ynet (stylized in all lowercase) is an Israeli news and general-content website, and the online outlet for the '' Yedioth Ahronoth'' newspaper. History Ynet launched on June 6, 2000, in Hebrew, following other Hebrew outlet's website launches i ...

. Retrieved 31 May 2010. The new party won only two seats, but a rotation agreement saw the seats shared by five people; Eliav served the first term, before resigning from the Knesset in January 1979 to make way for

Uri Avnery Uri Avnery (, also transliterated Uri Avneri; 10 September 1923 – 20 August 2018) was a German-born Israeli writer, journalist, politician, and activist, who founded the Gush Shalom peace movement. A member of the Irgun as a teenager and a vet ...

. In 1984 he established a personal faction that ran in the elections that year, but failed to cross the electoral threshold by around 5,000 votes. In 1987 he returned to the Labor Party. In 1987 he initiated and led a

Jewish Agency The Jewish Agency for Israel (), formerly known as the Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. It was established in 1929 as the operative branch of the World Zionist Organization (WZO). As an ...

project to found Nitzana, a new educational community, in the

Negev The Negev ( ; ) or Naqab (), is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southern end is the Gulf of Aqaba and the resort town, resort city ...

desert. He served as the Head of Community until 2008. Eliav returned to the Knesset after the 1988 elections. He served one last Knesset term and in 1992 decided not to run for a new term. Eliav died 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 ...

on 30 May 2010 at the age of 89.

Pioneering activity

Eliav helped to found the city of Arad in the

and promoted the development of Lakhish and Kiryat Gat. In the 1980s, he was the driving spirit behind the establishment of Nitzana in the western Negev, turning the sand dunes into a

youth village A youth village () is a boarding school model first developed in Mandatory Palestine in the 1930s to care for groups of children and teenagers fleeing the Nazis. Henrietta Szold and Recha Freier were the pioneers in this sphere, known as youth ...

Awards and recognition

*In 1988, he was awarded the

Israel Prize The Israel Prize (; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History Prior to the Israel Prize, the most significant award in the arts was the Dizengoff Prize and in Israel ...

, for special contributions to society and the State of Israel. *In 2003, he won the .

Published works

Eliav published 15 books, including: *''Between Hammer and Sickle'' (1965) *''The Voyage of the Ulua'' (1967) *''New targets for Israel'' (1969) *''The Short Cut'' (1970) *''Land of the Hart'' (1972) *''Shalom: Peace in Jewish Tradition'' (1977) *''Autobiography: Rings of Dawn'' (1984) *''New Heart, New Spirit: Biblical Humanism for Modern Israel'' (1986) *''On Both Sides of the New-Comers' Camp: an Intimate Dialogue on Israeli Identity'' (2006) – with co-author Yossi Alfi

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eliav, Aryeh 1921 births 2010 deaths Alignment (Israel) politicians Aliyah Bet activists British Army personnel of World War II Deputy ministers of Israel Harvard University staff Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni Trinity College (Connecticut) faculty Independent Socialist Faction politicians Israel Prize for special contribution to society and the State recipients Israeli Labor Party politicians Israeli military personnel of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War Israeli soldiers Jewish socialists Left Camp of Israel leaders Members of the 6th Knesset (1965–1969) Members of the 7th Knesset (1969–1974) Members of the 8th Knesset (1974–1977) Members of the 9th Knesset (1977–1981) Members of the 12th Knesset (1988–1992) Palmach members Soviet emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Soviet Jews Ya'ad – Civil Rights Movement politicians People from Arad, Israel Burials at Trumpeldor Cemetery Mandatory Palestine military personnel of World War II Immigrants of the Fourth Aliyah