Moshe Baram (; 17 March 1911 – 5 December 1986) 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 ...

between 1969 and 1977, and also as

Minister of Labour Minister of labour (in British English) or labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...

and Minister of Welfare.

Biography

Moshe Baram was born in Zdolbuniv 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 ...

(today in

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 ...

) in 1911, attending school in Kovno (now

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

in Lithuania). In his youth, he joined the HeHalutz Movement and "Freiheit-Dror", which was affiliated with the

Poale Zion Poale Zion (, also romanized ''Poalei Tziyon'' or ''Poaley Syjon'', meaning "Workers of Zion") was a movement of Marxist–Zionist Jewish workers founded in various cities of Poland, Europe and the Russian Empire at about the turn of the 20th c ...

party. In 1931 he 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 ...

Mandate Palestine The Mandate for Palestine was a League of Nations mandate for British administration of the territories of Palestine and Transjordanwhich had been part of the Ottoman Empire for four centuriesfollowing the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in Wo ...

. After arriving in the country, he worked in the construction industry and 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 ...

Political career

In 1934 he began working for the

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 ...

, and in 1938 became a member of the Secretariat of the Jerusalem Branch of

Mapai Mapai (, an abbreviation for , ''Mifleget Poalei Eretz Yisrael'', ) was a Labor Zionist and democratic socialist political party in Israel, and was the dominant force in Israeli politics until its merger into the Israeli Labor Party in January ...

, and in 1943 was made the Secretary. He also served as a delegate to the Assembly of Representatives between 1944 and 1949. In 1948 Baram was elected Secretary of the

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 ...

Workers Council, and served as a Member of the Jerusalem City Council from 1955 until 1959. In 1959 he was elected to the

's list. In 1965 Mapai became part of 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 ...

, with Baram remaining a Knesset Member until 1977. In 1974, towards the end of his political career, Baram was made

, also taking over the Welfare Ministry portfolio shortly before the

1977 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1977. Africa * 1977 Afars and Issas Constituent Assembly election * 1977 Algerian legislative election * 1977 Gambian general election * 1976–1977 Guinea-Bissau legislative election * 1977 Malagasy ...

. The elections saw the Alignment's parliamentary representation halved, and Baram lost his seat. However, his son,

Uzi Baram Uzi Baram (; born 6 April 1937) is an Israeli former politician who served as a member of the Knesset between 1977 and 2001, and was Minister of Tourism and Minister of Internal Affairs in the 1990s. Biography Baram was born in Jerusalem during ...

did win a seat on the Alignment's list, and went on to become Minister of Tourism and

Minister of Internal Affairs An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

before retiring in 2001. Moshe Baram is the author of the book ''Lo BeTelem'' (''Not in a Furrow''), published in 1981. a street was named after him in Jerusalem

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baram, Moshe 1911 births 1986 deaths Jewish Ukrainian politicians Jews from Mandatory Palestine Haganah members Israeli trade unionists Members of the Assembly of Representatives (Mandatory Palestine) Members of the 4th Knesset (1959–1961) Members of the 5th Knesset (1961–1965) Members of the 6th Knesset (1965–1969) Members of the 7th Knesset (1969–1974) Members of the 8th Knesset (1974–1977) Soviet emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Mapai politicians Alignment (Israel) politicians Israeli Labor Party politicians Burials at Har HaMenuchot City councillors of Jerusalem Immigrants of the Fifth Aliyah