Ya'akov Riftin ( he, יעקב ריפתין,16 March 1907 – 14 May 1978) was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for

Mapam Mapam ( he, מַפָּ״ם, an acronym for , ) was a left-wing political party in Israel. The party is one of the ancestors of the modern-day Meretz party. History Mapam was formed by a January 1948 merger of the kibbutz-based Hashomer Hatz ...

between 1949 and 1965.

Biography

Born in

Wólka Profecka Wólka is a diminutive of Wola (settlement), Wola and may refer to: *Wólka, Aleksandrów County in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship (north-central Poland) *Wólka, Rypin County in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship (north-central Poland) *Wólka, Lip ...

near Puławy in the Russian Empire (today in Poland), Riftin joined the HaShomer youth movement, and was later a member of

Hashomer Hatzair Hashomer Hatzair ( he, הַשׁוֹמֵר הַצָעִיר, , ''The Young Guard'') is a Labor Zionist, secular Jewish youth movement founded in 1913 in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria-Hungary, and it was also the name of the group ...

, becoming one of the leaders of the movement in Poland. He made

aliyah Aliyah (, ; he, עֲלִיָּה ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel, which is in the modern era chiefly represented by the Israel, State of Israel ...

to Mandatory Palestine in 1929, and joined kibbutz Ein Shemer in 1931. Riftin also joined the

Histadrut Histadrut, or the General Organization of Workers in Israel, originally ( he, ההסתדרות הכללית של העובדים בארץ ישראל, ''HaHistadrut HaKlalit shel HaOvdim B'Eretz Yisrael''), is Israel's national trade union center ...

trade union, becoming a member of its executive committee and co-ordinating committee. He served as a member of the Assembly of Representatives and of the Jewish National Council, as well as being a member of the Yishuv's security committee. During 1947 and 1948 he was part of the Jewish delegation to the United Nations, and served as the political secretary of the Israeli delegation from independence (in 1948) until 1954. Despite being part of the UN delegation, he was elected to the Knesset in

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

, and was re-elected in

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

and

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

. According to the Vasili Mitrokhin documents, Riftin regularly passed on classified documents, including top secret ones, to the Soviet Embassy. He lost his seat in the 1965 elections. A member of the left-wing group in Mapam, he left the party in 1968 when it formed an alliance with the Labor Party in 1968, and formed the Left Independent Socialist Zionist Union, which unsuccessfully ran in Histadrut elections.Glossary of Israeli Parties and Personalities - 1948–1981
Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs He died in 1978.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Riftin, Yaakov 1907 births 1978 deaths People from Puławy County Zionists Polish emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Jews in Mandatory Palestine Jewish socialists Hashomer Hatzair members Members of the Assembly of Representatives (Mandatory Palestine) Israeli trade unionists Mapam politicians Members of the 1st Knesset (1949–1951) Members of the 2nd Knesset (1951–1955) Members of the 3rd Knesset (1955–1959) Members of the 4th Knesset (1959–1961) Members of the 5th Knesset (1961–1965)