Geulah Cohen (; 25 December 1925 – 18 December 2019) was an Israeli politician and activist who founded the

Tehiya Tehiya (), originally known as Banai (, an abbreviation for ''Land of Israel Loyalists' Alliance''), then Tehiya-Bnai (), was an ultranationalist Ultranationalism, or extreme nationalism, is an extremist form of nationalism in which a co ...

party. She won 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 ...

in 2003. Between 1974 and 1992, she served as a member of

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 ...

, initially for

Likud Likud (, ), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement (), is a major Right-wing politics, right-wing, political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon in an alliance with several right-wing par ...

. She changed her political affiliation to Tehiya in 1979. In 1992, she lost her seat in the Knesset.

Life and career

Geulah Cohen was born 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 ...

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 ...

to a

Mizrahi Jewish Mizrahi Jews (), also known as ''Mizrahim'' () in plural and ''Mizrahi'' () in singular, and alternatively referred to as Oriental Jews or ''Edot HaMizrach'' (, ), are terms used in Israeli discourse to refer to a grouping of Jews, Jewish c ...

family of Yemenite, Moroccan and Turkish origin. She was the daughter of Miriam and Yosef Cohen. She studied at the Levinsky Teachers Seminary, and earned a master's degree in Jewish Studies, Philosophy, Literature and Bible at 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. ...

In 1942 she joined 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 ...

, and moved to Lehi the following year. As a radio announcer for the organization, she was arrested by British military authorities in 1946washingtonpost.com: "Fighter in the Promised Land, Geula Cohen and the New Zionism"
11 October 1978 while broadcasting in Tel Aviv. She escaped custody in May, shortly before her trial, and was helped in her escape by a number of Arab villages as described in her memoirs of the period but was recaptured. On 6 June 1946, she was sentenced to seven years in prison (the ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' lists the sentence as 19 years) for possessing a wireless transmitter, pistols, revolvers, and ammunition. During sentencing she sang "

Hatikvah Hatikvah (, ; ) is the national anthem of the Israel, State of Israel. Part of 19th-century Jewish literature, Jewish poetry, the theme of the Romantic poetry, Romantic composition reflects the 2,000-year-old desire of the Jews, Jewish people ...

" and was accompanied by 30 members of her family. Imprisoned in

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

, she escaped in 1947. Cohen was editor of the Lehi newspaper ''Youth Front''. Following the

Israeli Declaration of Independence The Israeli Declaration of Independence, formally the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel (), was proclaimed on 14 May 1948 (5 Iyar 5708), at the end of the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war phase and ...

in 1948, she contributed to ''Sulam'', a monthly magazine published by former Lehi leader Israel Eldad. Cohen was married to former Lehi comrade Emanuel Hanegbi. From 1961 to 1973, she wrote for the Israeli newspaper ''

Maariv ''Maariv'' or ''Maʿariv'' (, ), also known as ''Arvit'', or ''Arbit'' (, ), is a Jewish prayer service held in the evening or at night. It consists primarily of the evening '' Shema'' and ''Amidah''. The service will often begin with two ...

'' and served on its editorial board. During her career as a journalist, she visited

Menachem Mendel Schneerson Menachem Mendel Schneerson ( – June 12, 1994; Anno Mundi, AM 11 Nissan 5662 – 3 Tammuz 5754), known to adherents of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement as the Lubavitcher Rebbe or simply the Rebbe, was an American Orthodox rabbi and the most rec ...

in New York, who encouraged her to focus on engaging with Israeli youth. Cohen died on 18 December 2019, at the age of 93. She was buried at the Mount of Olives Jewish Cemetery in Jerusalem.

Political career

In 1972, Cohen joined

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 ...

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, which was then part of the

Gahal Gahal (, an acronym for ''Gush Herut–Liberalim'' (Hebrew: ), ''lit.'' ''Freedom–Liberals Bloc'') was the main right-leaning political alliance in Israel, ranging from the centre-right to right-wing, from its founding in 1965 until the establi ...

alliance. She was elected to the

the following year, by which time Gahal had merged into

. She was re-elected in 1977. As an opponent of the

Camp David Accords The Camp David Accords were a pair of political agreements signed by Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin on 17 September 1978, following twelve days of secret negotiations at Camp David, the country retre ...

and the return of

Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai ( ; ; ; ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a land bridge between Asia and Afri ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, Cohen was thrown out of the Knesset during Begin's presentation of the agreement. In 1979, Cohen and

Moshe Shamir Moshe Shamir (; 15 September 1921 – 20 August 2004) was an Israeli author, playwright, opinion writer, and public figure. He was the author of a play upon which Israeli film '' He Walked Through the Fields'' was based. Biography Shamir was bor ...

left

to establish a new far-right party, initially called Banai, later ''Tehiya-Bnai'', and then ''Tehiya''. The new party was a strong supporter of Gush Emunim and included prominent members from

Israeli settlement Israeli settlements, also called Israeli colonies, are the civilian communities built by Israel throughout the Israeli-occupied territories. They are populated by Israeli citizens, almost exclusively of Israeli Jews, Jewish identity or ethni ...

s in the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

and Gaza such as

Hanan Porat Hanan Porat (; 5 December 1943 – 4 October 2011) was an Israeli Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox rabbi, educator and politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Tehiya, the National Religious Party, Tkuma (political party), Tkuma and the Nat ...

and Elyakim Haetzni. Cohen retained her seat in the 1981 elections, and Tehiya joined Begin's coalition government. She was re-elected in 1984 and 1988. In June 1990, following a coalition crisis, she was appointed to the cabinet as Deputy Minister of Science and Technology. Cohen lost her seat in the 1992 elections. That year, she rejoined Likud and remained active in right-wing politics. Her son,

Tzachi Hanegbi Tzachi Hanegbi (; born 26 February 1957) is an Israeli politician and national security expert serving as Israel's National Security Advisor. A member of Likud, Hanegbi previously served as Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mini ...

, is a former Knesset member for the Likud.

Views and opinions

Cohen opposed territorial concessions. She was a vocal critic of the

in 1978 and of

Israel's unilateral disengagement plan In 2005, Israel disengaged from the Gaza Strip by dismantling all 21 Israeli settlement, Israeli settlements there. As part of this process, four Israeli settlements in the West Bank were dismantled as well. The disengagement was executed unil ...

from Gaza in 2005. She described herself as a "woman of violence" in the pursuit of political ends.

Awards and recognition

* In 2003, Cohen was awarded the

for her lifetime achievements and special contribution to society and the State of Israel. * In 2007, she received the Yakir Yerushalayim (Worthy Citizen of Jerusalem) award from the city of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. City of Jerusalem official website

Published work

*''Story of a Warrior'' (1961; Hebrew autobiography) * (autobiography) *''Historical Meeting'' (1986) (Hebrew) *''Ein li koah lehiyot ayefa'' ("No Strength To Be Tired"; 2008)

References

External links

*
Geulah Cohen: The Israeli revolutionary who bewitched Anwar Sadat
Haaretz. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Geula 1925 births 2019 deaths Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni Sephardi Jews in Mandatory Palestine Jewish Israeli politicians Israel Prize for lifetime achievement & special contribution to society recipients Israeli people of Moroccan-Jewish descent Israeli people of Turkish-Jewish descent Israeli people of Yemeni-Jewish descent Israeli Sephardi Jews Israeli Mizrahi Jews Israel Prize women recipients Women members of the Knesset Israeli women journalists Members of the 8th Knesset (1974–1977) Members of the 9th Knesset (1977–1981) Members of the 10th Knesset (1981–1984) Members of the 11th Knesset (1984–1988) Members of the 12th Knesset (1988–1992) Likud politicians Politicians from Tel Aviv Tehiya leaders Deputy ministers of Israel Israeli far-right politicians Betar members Irgun members Lehi members Jewish women politicians Jewish women activists Israeli escapees Israeli women activists Maariv (newspaper) editors Burials at the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives Escapees from British military detention People convicted of illegal possession of weapons Prisoners and detainees of Mandatory Palestine Israeli women newspaper editors