Benno Cohen (; 30 September 1894 – 24 November 1975) was an Israeli politician who 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 the

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 ...

and the Independent Liberals between 1961 and 1965.

Biography

Born in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, Cohen was amongst the leadership of the Blue-White youth movement. He studied at the

University of Breslau A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

, where he was a member of the Zionist Students Association, and was certified as a lawyer. He also served in the

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. During the 1920s he spent time in

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 ...

working on plans for agricultural settlements.Benno Cohen: Public Activities
Knesset website Between 1933 and 1939 he served as general secretary of the German branch of the Zionist Movement. In 1939, Cohen made

aliyah ''Aliyah'' (, ; ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel or the Palestine (region), Palestine region, which is today chiefly represented by the Israel ...

to Palestine. He was amongst the founders of the New Aliyah Party, which later merged into the Progressive Party. He served as chairman of the Disciplinary Court for civil servants, and also worked as a lecturer at the School for Jurisprudence and Economics 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 ...

. In

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

, he was elected to the Knesset on the Liberal Party list (which had been formed by a merger of the Progressive Party and the

General Zionists The General Zionists () were a centrist Zionist movement and a political party in Israel. The General Zionists supported the leadership of Chaim Weizmann and their views were largely colored by central European culture. The party was considered ...

). In 1965, Cohen was amongst the group of former Progressive Party members that broke away to form the Independent Liberals, before losing his seat in

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

later that year. He died in 1975 at the age of 81.

References

External links

* {{authority control 1894 births 1975 deaths German Army personnel of World War I German Jewish military personnel of World War I German Zionists Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Mandatory Palestine University of Breslau alumni Israeli educators Members of the 5th Knesset (1961–1965) Liberal Party (Israel) politicians Independent Liberals (Israel) politicians Members of Aliyah Bet