Yitzhak Ben-Zvi
Yitzhak Ben-Zvi | |
---|---|
יצחק בן־צבי | |
2nd President of Israel | |
In office 16 December 1952 – 23 April 1963 | |
Prime Minister | David Ben-Gurion Moshe Sharett David Ben-Gurion |
Preceded by | Chaim Weizmann |
Succeeded by | Zalman Shazar |
Member of the Knesset | |
In office 12 February 1949 – 8 August 1952 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Izaak Shimshelevich 24 November 1884 Poltava, Russian Empire (now Ukraine) |
Died | 23 April 1963 Jerusalem, Israel | (aged 78)
Nationality | Israeli |
Political party | Mapai |
Spouse | Rachel Yanait |
Children | 2 |
Alma mater | Istanbul University Faculty of Law |
Signature | |
Yitzhak Ben-Zvi (Hebrew: יִצְחָק בֶּן־צְבִי Yitshak Ben-Tsvi; 24 November 1884 – 23 April 1963; born Izaak Shimshelevich) was a historian, ethnologist, Labor Zionist leader and the longest-serving President of Israel.
As a scholar, Ben-Zvi conducted extensive research on
Biography
Born in
Yitzhak Ben-Zvi's parents were banished to Siberia following the discovery of a cache of weapons he had concealed in their home.[5]
Ben-Zvi's brother was author Aharon Reuveni, and his brother-in-law was the Israeli archaeologist Benjamin Mazar.[6]
Ben Zvi had a formal Jewish education at a
In 1918, Ben-Zvi married
Zionist activism
Following Borochov's arrest, March 1906, and subsequence exile in the United States, Ben Zvi became leader of the Russian Poale Zion. He moved their headquarters from Poltava to
In spring of 1910 Poale Zion (Palestine) decided to launch a
In 1915, despite calling on Jews to become Ottoman citizens and attempting to assemble a militia in Jerusalem to fight on the Ottoman side in the
On returning to Palestine he married Golda Lishansky who had remained in the country throughout the war.[19]
In 1919 he was one of the founders of
In 1921 he published an essay titled The Arab Movement focusing on Palestinian Arab Nationalism in which he attempted to "resolve the apparent contradiction between the long-term goal of Zionism—the creation in Palestine of a Jewish majority and state—and the fact that at present the overwhelming majority of Palestine's population was Arab".[21] In the essay, Ben-Zvi argued that Arabs in Palestine did not constitute a unified national entity and that Palestinian Arab nationalism was essentially inauthentic, indirectly denying their right to self-determination. He further stated that there was no true Arab liberation movement among the Arab population in Palestine. Ben-Zvi asserted that the elite, Effendi, class in Palestine were exploiting Palestinian peasants (Fellahin), and as such, the Effendis had no popular support among the indigenous inhabitants.[22] Zionism, Ben-Zvi concluded, was good for the Palestinian peasants since they are "interested in the expansion of employment and industry in the country and the improvement of the workers' lot, which of necessity results from Jewish settlement and immigration."[23] He was head of the Poale Zion's Arab labor department, despite this he opposed a 1922 railway strike by Arab and Jewish workers in Haifa, and in 1923 he blocked a strike threatened by Arab workers in Jaffa and Lydda.[24] Between 1925 and 1928 he produced an Arabic language Zionist weekly newspaper called al-'Umma (Workers Unity).[25] In 1926 Ahdut Ha'avoda decided to cease all efforts at unionising Arab workers and that Arabs should be barred from joining the newly formed Histadrut.[26]
In 1931 he became chair of
Ben-Zvi served in the Jewish Legion (1st Judean battalion 'KADIMAH') together with Ben-Gurion. He helped found the Ahdut HaAvoda party in 1919, and became increasingly active in the Haganah. According to Avraham Tehomi, Ben-Zvi ordered the 1924 murder of Jacob Israël de Haan.[28] De Haan had come to Palestine as an ardent Zionist, but he had become increasingly critical of the Zionist organizations, preferring a negotiated solution to the armed struggle between the Jews and Arabs. This is how Tehomi acknowledged his own part in the murder over sixty years later, in an Israeli television interview in 1985: "I have done what the Haganah decided had to be done. And nothing was done without the order of Yitzhak Ben-Zvi. I have no regrets because he [de Haan] wanted to destroy our whole idea of Zionism."[28]
Political career
Ben Zvi was elected to the Jerusalem City Council and by 1931 served as president of the Jewish National Council, the shadow government of the Jewish community in Mandatory Palestine. When Israel gained its independence, Ben-Zvi was among the signers of its Declaration of Independence on 14 May 1948. He served in the First and Second Knessets for the Mapai party. In 1951, Ben-Zvi was appointed one of the acting members of the Government Naming Committee, whose duty was to decide on appropriate names for newly constructed settlements.[29]
Pedagogic and research career
In Jaffa Ben Zvi found work as a teacher. In 1909, he organized the
In 1948, Ben-Zvi headed the Institute for the Study of Oriental Jewish Communities in the Middle East, later named the Ben-Zvi Institute (Yad Ben-Zvi) in his honor. The Ben-Zvi Institute occupies Nissim Valero's house.
Study of the Samaritans
Ben-Zvi had a unique relationship with the Samaritan community. His first encounters with the Samaritan community were in 1908, when he first met the elder Abraham son of Marhiv Zeadaka Hazafrir, from whom he rented a room in Jaffa, aiming to learn Arabic. He developed a fascination for the Samaritans, establishing friendships, visiting, and exchanging letters with
Presidency
He was elected President of Israel on 8 December 1952, assumed office on 16 December 1952, and continued to serve in the position until his death.
Ben-Zvi believed that the president should set an example for the public, and that his home should reflect the austerity of the times. For over 26 years, he and his family lived in a wooden hut in the Rehavia neighborhood of Jerusalem. The State of Israel took interest in the adjacent house, built and owned by Nissim and Esther Valero, and purchased it after Nissim's death to provide additional space for the President's residence.[31] Two larger wooden structures in the yard were used for official receptions.
Awards and recognition
In 1953, Ben-Zvi was awarded the Bialik Prize for Jewish thought.[32]
Ben-Zvi's photo appears on 100
Published works
- Sefer HaShomronim [Book of the Samaritans] (1935)
- She'ar Yeshuv (1927)
- Yehudey Khaybar veGoralam [The Jews of Kheibar and their fate] (1940)
- Derakhai Siparti, (Jerusalem, 1971)
Gallery
-
With Ben Gurion in Istanbul, October 1912
-
Private Yitzhak Ben-Zvi as a volunteer in the Jewish Legion, 1918
-
Rabbi Moshe Gabai petitioning President Zvi to help the Jewish community in Zacho, Iraq, 1951
-
100 Israeli new shekel bill
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 978-3-11-021283-9, retrieved 15 May 2023
- ^ "Yad Yitzhak Ben-Zvi Institute". The Jerusalem Foundation. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
- ^ "Itzhak Ben-Zvi | president of Israel | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
- ^ "Yad Ben-Zvi Collection". www.nli.org.il. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
- ^ Ben Zvi, Rahel Yanait (1963) Coming Home. Massadah - P.E.C. Press Ltd. pp.69,138
- ^ Dan Mazar (1994) Jerusalem Christian Review
- ISBN 0-395-35409-9. pp. 51-55
- ISBN 9-781789-544633. pp. 101,102
- ISBN 0-297-77401-8. Originally published in Israel 1977. pp. 26,72
- ^ Segev (2019) p.102
- ^ Meir, Golda (1975. 1976 edition) My Life. Steimatzky. p.97 Sharret, Remez
- ^ St. John, Robert (1959) Ben-Gurion. Jarrolds Publishers London. p.31 Trumpeldor
- ^ Teveth (1987). p.82 Lishansky
- ^ Segev (2019). p.115 Wilbushewitch
- ISBN 0-520-20419-0. p.51
- ^ Segev (2019). pp.116-7
- ^ Bar Zohar. p 33
- ^ Segev (2019). p.139
- ^ Teveth (1987). p.135
- ^ Lockman (1996). p.61
- ^ Lockman (1996). p.59
- ^ Lockman (1996). pp.59,60
- ^ Ben-Zvi quoted in Lockman (1996). pp.60,61
- ^ Lockman (1996) pp. 123,125
- ^ Lockman (1996) pp. 91,97
- ^ Lockman (1996) p.103
- ^ Lockman (1996) p.184
- ^ OCLC 21528172.
- ^ "State of Israel Records", Collection of Publications, no. 152 (PDF) (in Hebrew), Jerusalem: Government of Israel, 1951, p. 845
- ^ Ben Zvi Institute, 12 Abarbanel St., Jerusalem
- ^ Eilat Gordin Levitan. "Shimshelevitz Family". Eilatgordinlevitan.com. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
- ^ "List of Bialik Prize recipients 1933–2004" (PDF). Tel Aviv Municipality. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 December 2007.
- OCLC 191048781.
External links
- Yitzhak Ben-Zvi Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- English Online-catalog of the library of the Ben Zvi Institute[permanent dead link]
- Jewish virtual library entry