Efraim Ilin (; 1912–2011) was an Israeli tycoon and security expert. He is known for founding Kaiser in Israel.
Early life
Ilin was born in
Kharkov
Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.
,
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 Kharkiv,
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
). He grew up with
Zionist
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 ...
upbringing and spoke
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
from the age of 6. In 1925 his family 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 ...
, settling in
Ness Ziona
Ness Ziona (, ''Nes Tziyona'') is a city in Central District (Israel), Central District, Israel. In it had a population of , and its jurisdiction was 15,579 dunams ().
Identification
Lying within Ness Ziona's city bounds is the ruin of the Arab ...
. Ilin studied at the
Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium
The Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium (, also known as ''Gymnasia Herzliya''), originally known as HaGymnasia HaIvrit (lit. Hebrew High School) is a historic high school in Tel Aviv, Israel, whose faculty and alumni includes many people influential in t ...
. In 1934 he married his wife Ziporah.
Security career
In 1938 Ilin was drafted by
Avraham Stern
Avraham Stern (, ''Avraham Shtern''; December 23, 1907 – February 12, 1942), alias Yair (), was one of the leaders of the Jewish paramilitary organization Irgun. In September 1940, he founded a breakaway militant Zionist group named Lehi, c ...
to volunteer in the
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 worked with Stern and
David Raziel
David Raziel (; 19 November 1910 – 20 May 1941) was a leader of the Zionist underground in British Mandatory Palestine and one of the founders of the Irgun.
During World War II, Irgun entered a truce with the British so they could collabora ...
who was one of its founding members. In 1948, together with
Ehud Avriel
Ehud Avriel (; 19 October 1917 – 27 August 1980) was an Israeli diplomat and politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Mapai between 1955 and 1957.
Biography
Born Georg Überall in Vienna in Austria-Hungary, Avriel was educated at ...
, Ilin, who was then living in
Milan
Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
, negotiated a deal with
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
to supply arms for the IDF. In 1948 Ilin also negotiated an arms equipment deal with
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 ...
and the Yugoslavians on behalf of the
Mossad
The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (), popularly known as Mossad ( , ), is the national intelligence agency of the Israel, State of Israel. It is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community, along with M ...
.
Financial career
In 1945 Ilin helped Max Cukier and Avram Goldstein to contract to buy Egyptian cotton to be spun in Italy for re-export to Palestine and became their junior partner.
In 1948, after the founding of the State of Israel, the
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...
sought to invest in Israel and facilitate the large number of vehicles it would need for the military and government. After threats of boycotts from the Arab nations, Ford backed down.
While the government was searching for alternatives, Lord
Marcus Sieff
Marcus Joseph Sieff, Baron Sieff of Brimpton OBE (; 2 July 1913 – 23 February 2001) was a British businessman and chairman of his family company, the retailer Marks & Spencer, from 1972 to 1982. Like his parents, he was also a leading figure in ...
of London, put Ilin in contact with
Hickman Price Hickman Price Jr., (1911–1989) was the Assistant Secretary for Domestic Affairs in the United States Department of Commerce from 1961 to 1963 and a business executive with Kaiser-Frazer and Willys.
Early life
Price was born on August 14, 1911 ...
of
Kaiser-Frazer
The Kaiser-Frazer Corporation (1947–1953 as Kaiser-Frazer) was an American automobile company. It was founded jointly by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and automobile executive Joseph W. Frazer.Menachem M. Schneerson for advice on the matter. Schneerson urged Ilin to provide the two million needed to bring the deal to fruition, telling Ilin that the new car company would boost the Israeli economy and provide jobs for Israeli citizens,
Holocaust survivors
Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no universall ...
and new immigrants. Schneerson told Ilin the deal would be successful.
Kaiser was opened in Israel in 1951.
The factory in Israel built Kaiser-Frazer products, along with Mack trucks, under license. By 1956, Kaiser-Fraizer was responsible for 28% of Israeli exports. By the end of the 1950s, the operation was known as Kaiser-Ilin, named after Ilin.
In 1959, Kaiser-Ilin reached an agreement to assemble six-cylinder
Studebaker Lark
The Studebaker Lark is a compact car that was produced by Studebaker from 1959 to 1966.
From its introduction in early 1959 until 1962, the Lark was a product of the Studebaker-Packard Corporation. In mid-1962, the company dropped "Packard" from ...
s in Haifa, to help potential buyers bypass stiff Israeli duties on imported vehicles. Earlier that year, the Kaiser-Frazer plant at Haifa laid off 400 workers and suspended operations for two weeks because of a lack of parts.