Yosef Aharon Almogi (; 5 May 1910 – 2 November 1991) was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset between 1955 and 1977, as well as holding several ministerial posts.

Biography

Born Josef Karlenboim in Hrubieszów 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

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

), he joined the Dror movement in 1924 and moved to Mandate Palestine in 1930. He served as a commander of the Haganah in Kfar Saba,

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 ...

(1936) and

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

(1937). In 1940, he enlisted in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

, and fought in Greece. He was captured and spent the remainder of the War in a German POW camp. Upon returning to Israel after the war, Almogi became active in politics and 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 Mapai. He was active in the Haifa Workers Council, serving as Alternate Secretary from 1947 to 1951 and then Secretary from 1951 to 1959. He was the General Secretary of Mapai from 1959 to 1961. First elected to the Knesset in the 1955 elections, Almogi was made Minister without Portfolio after the 1961 elections, before taking over the roles of Minister of Housing and Minister of Development in October 1962. When

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 ...

replaced Ben-Gurion as PM in 1963, Almogi kept both positions. However, when Ben-Gurion led a breakaway from Mapai to form Rafi shortly before the 1965 elections, Almogi followed, losing his cabinet position in the process. Elected back to the Knesset on Rafi's list, Almogi became Minister of Labour in July 1968 when together with Mapam, Rafi merged into Eshkol's Alignment (a merger of Mapai and Ahdut HaAvoda). He retained his position after the 1969 elections, but was not included in

Golda Meir Golda Meir (; 3 May 1898 – 8 December 1978) was the prime minister of Israel, serving from 1969 to 1974. She was Israel's first and only female head of government. Born into a Jewish family in Kyiv, Kiev, Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine) ...

's cabinet after the 1973 elections. During his last term in the Knesset, Almogi also briefly served as the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

(1974–1975). He then served as chairman of the World Zionist Organization from 1975 to 1978 and head of the Jewish Agency Executive from 1976 to 1978. He died in Haifa on 2 November 1991.

Bibliography

* * *

References

*The Central Zionist Archives in Jerusale
site
The Office of Yosef Almogi (S85), Personal papers (AK292). *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Almogi, Yosef 1910 births 1991 deaths People from Hrubieszów Jews from the Russian Empire Polish emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Jews from Mandatory Palestine Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent Mapai politicians Rafi (political party) politicians Israeli Labor Party politicians Mayors of Haifa Heads of the Jewish Agency for Israel Haganah members British Army personnel of World War II Members of the 3rd Knesset (1955–1959) 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) World War II prisoners of war held by Germany Ministers of development of Israel Ministers of housing of Israel Ministers of labour of Israel Ministers without Portfolio of Israel Mandatory Palestine military personnel of World War II Immigrants of the Fifth Aliyah