Yosef Kushnir (; 15 November 1900 – 6 January 1983) 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 ...

for

Mapam File:Pre-State_Zionist_Workers'_Parties_chart.png, chart of zionist workers parties, 360px, right rect 167 83 445 250 Hapoel Hatzair rect 450 88 717 265 The non-partisans (pre-state Zionist political movement), Non Partisans rect 721 86 995 243 ...

from 1960 until 1961, and again from 1962 until 1965.

Biography

Born in Bender in the

Bessarabia Governorate The Bessarabia Governorate was a province (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, with its administrative centre in Kishinev (Chișinău). It consisted of an area of and a population of 1,935,412 inhabitants. The Bessarabia Governorate bordered t ...

of 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

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

), Kushnir emigrated to Palestine in 1922. He studied at the Jerusalem Law School, and was certified as a lawyer. He became one of the leaders of Poale Zion Left, and was also involved in other

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

groups in Mandate Palestine. In 1945 he joined the

Hashomer Hatzair Workers Party File:Pre-State_Zionist_Workers'_Parties_chart.png, chart of zionist workers parties, 360px, right rect 167 83 445 250 Hapoel Hatzair rect 450 88 717 265 The non-partisans (pre-state Zionist political movement), Non Partisans rect 721 86 995 243 ...

, which merged with

Ahdut HaAvoda Ahdut HaAvoda () was the name used by a series of List of political parties in Israel, political parties in Israel. Ahdut HaAvoda in its first incarnation was led by David Ben-Gurion. It was first established during the period of Mandatory Pales ...

to form Mapam in 1948. Kushnir became a member of its central committee, and was a member of the secretariat of its Haifa branch. Between 1950 and 1955 he was a member of

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 ...

city council, and also served as chairman of the city's branch of the Lawyers Union. He was on the Mapam list for the 1959 Knesset elections, but failed to win a seat. However, he entered the Knesset on 10 July 1960 as a replacement for Haim Yehuda. Although he lost his seat in the 1961 elections, he returned to the Knesset on 24 October 1962 as a replacement for the deceased Hanan Rubin.Knesset Members of the Fifth Knesset
Knesset website He lost his seat again in the 1965 elections. Kushnir died in 1983 at the age of 82.

References

External links

* {{authority control 1900 births 1983 deaths People from Bender, Moldova People from Bendersky Uyezd Moldovan Jews Soviet emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Jews from Mandatory Palestine Israeli people of Moldovan-Jewish descent Mapam politicians Members of the 4th Knesset (1959–1961) Members of the 5th Knesset (1961–1965) Jewish socialists 20th-century Israeli lawyers Immigrants of the Third Aliyah