Yigal Hurvitz (; 15 October 1918 – 10 January 1994) was an Israeli farmer, businessman and politician who served as a government minister in the late 1970s and 1980s.

Biography

Hurvitz was born in Nahlat Yehuda (today part of

Rishon LeZion Rishon LeZion ( , "First to Zion") is a city in Israel, located along the central Israeli coastal plain south of Tel Aviv. It is part of the Gush Dan metropolitan area. Founded in 1882 by Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire who were ...

) in 1918,Igael Hurvitz: Personal Details
Knesset but grew up in the rural village of

Nahalal Nahalal () is a moshav in Northern District (Israel), northern Israel. Covering , it falls under the jurisdiction of the Jezreel Valley Regional Council. In it had a population of . Nahalal is best known for its general layout, as designed by ...

. Between 1938 and 1941 he was a member of the secretariat of HaNoar HaOved VeHaLomed, and served in the

Jewish Brigade The Jewish Infantry Brigade Group, more commonly known as the Jewish Brigade Group or Jewish Brigade, was a military formation of the British Army in the World War II, Second World War. It was formed in late 1944 and was recruited among Yishuv, Y ...

during World War II.Igael Hurvitz: Public Activity and Publications
Knesset After the war he purchased a dairy and poultry farm in Kfar Warburg. He subsequently owned factories making ice cream and plastic cups. In 1961 he joined

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 became a member of the party's central committee. He also served as a member of the Moshavim Movement's secretariat between 1961 and 1965. In 1965 he joined

David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary List of national founders, national founder and first Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister of the State of Israel. As head of the Jewish Agency ...

's new Rafi party alongside his brother

Amos Amos or AMOS may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Amos'' (album), an album by Michael Ray * Amos (band), an American Christian rock band * ''Amos'' (film), a 1985 American made-for-television drama film * Amos (guitar), a 1958 Gibson Fl ...

, and followed Ben-Gurion to the new National List in 1969, whilst Amos remained in Rafi. In that year he was elected to 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 ...

on the party's list. Following its merger into the new

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 ...

alliance in 1973, Hurvitz was re-elected on Likud's list. He was re-elected in 1977, and was appointed Minister of Industry & Tourism, a role he held until October 1978, when he resigned in protest at the government's signing 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 ...

.Yigal Hurvitz: Israel's finance minister
UPI, 11 January 1981 In November 1979 he was appointed Minister of Finance, but left the cabinet again on 13 January 1981. On 26 January he and two other Likud MKs broke away from the Likud to form Rafi – National List. On 19 May he left the new faction to join

Moshe Dayan Moshe Dayan (; May 20, 1915 – October 16, 1981) was an Israeli military leader and politician. As commander of the Jerusalem front in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Chief of General Staff (Israel), Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defe ...

's Telem. After being placed third on Telem's list, he lost his seat in the 1981 elections when the party won only two seats. However, following Dayan's death in October 1981, Hurvitz re-entered the Knesset as his replacement. In June 1983 he left Telem and re-formed Rafi – National List. Shortly before the 1984 elections he renamed it Ometz (lit. ''Courage''). Although the party won only a single seat in the elections (taken by Hurvitz), it joined the

national unity government A national unity government, government of national unity (GNU), or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties (or all major parties) in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other na ...

and Hurvitz was appointed

Minister without Portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...

, a role he held until 1988. In 1987 he rejoined Likud. He won re-election on Likud's list in the 1988 elections, but lost his seat in 1992. He died two years later.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hurvitz, Yigal 1918 births People from Rishon LeZion Jews from Mandatory Palestine Israeli farmers Israeli businesspeople Likud politicians National List politicians Telem (1981 political party) politicians Rafi (political party) politicians Ometz (political party) politicians Ministers of finance of Israel Members of the 7th Knesset (1969–1974) 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) Jewish Brigade personnel La'am politicians 1994 deaths Ministers without Portfolio of Israel