Aryeh Ben-Eliezer
Encyclopedia
Aryeh Ben-Eliezer was a Revisionist Zionist
leader, Irgun
member and Israel
i politician.
in the Russian Empire (today in Lithuania
). His family immigrated
to the British Mandate of Palestine in 1920, and he attended high schools in Tel Aviv
. At the age of thirteen he joined Betar
and during the 1929 Palestine riots
and the 1936 riots he took an active part in the fight for Tel Aviv. Between 1932 and 1939 he served as an emissary for Betar and the Irgun in Poland
, Romania
and the Baltic countries
. In 1933 he was arrested for five weeks under suspicion of being connected to Brit HaBirionim
.
On the outbreak of World War II
, he was sent on an Irgun mission to the United States
and participated in the establishment of the "Committee for the Creation of a Hebrew Army”. Together with Hillel Kook
, Ari Jabotinsky
, Shmuel Merlin
and Yitzhak Ben-Ami, he founded the "Committee for the Rescue of European Jewry" and later on the "Committee for National Liberation".
In 1943 he returned to Palestine on a mission for the Committee for the Rescue of European Jewry. He met with Menachem Begin
, who asked him to become a member of the first Irgun General Headquarters. In April 1944 he was once again arrested by the British
, and was one of 251 detainees exiled
in October of that year to Asmara
, Eritrea
, where he was the representative of the exiles before the British authorities. In January 1947 he succeeded in escaping with several comrades and made his way to France
, where he made arrangements for the Altalena.
In 1948 he returned to the newly declared State of Israel and was among the founders and leaders of the Herut
movement. He also helped establish Israel's relations with France
. He was elected for Herut to the first through fifth Knesset
s, and for Gahal
to the sixth and seventh. He was a member of the Finance, Economic Affairs, Foreign Affairs & Defense and Internal Affairs Committees, as well as Deputy Speaker of the Knesset. He was one of the first to propose a referendum
as a proviso for crucial decisions, as part of his party's opposition to the Reparations Agreement between Israel and West Germany
.
He died in 1970 while still an MK, and was replaced by Gideon Patt
. The Israeli settlement
of Beit Aryeh was named after him. A prominent street, Rachov Ben Eliezer, in the Israeli town of Ramat Gan is also named in his honor.
Revisionist Zionism
Revisionist Zionism is a nationalist faction within the Zionist movement. It is the founding ideology of the non-religious right in Israel, and was the chief ideological competitor to the dominant socialist Labor Zionism...
leader, Irgun
Irgun
The Irgun , or Irgun Zevai Leumi to give it its full title , was a Zionist paramilitary group that operated in Mandate Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was an offshoot of the earlier and larger Jewish paramilitary organization haHaganah...
member and Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i politician.
Biography
Ben-Eliezer was born in 1913 in VilniusVilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
in the Russian Empire (today in Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
). His family immigrated
Aliyah
Aliyah is the immigration of Jews to the Land of Israel . It is a basic tenet of Zionist ideology. The opposite action, emigration from Israel, is referred to as yerida . The return to the Holy Land has been a Jewish aspiration since the Babylonian exile...
to the British Mandate of Palestine in 1920, and he attended high schools in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
. At the age of thirteen he joined Betar
Betar
The Betar Movement is a Revisionist Zionist youth movement founded in 1923 in Riga, Latvia, by Vladimir Jabotinsky. It has been traditionally linked to the original Herut and then Likud political parties of Israel, and was closely affiliated with the pre-Israel Revisionist Zionist splinter group...
and during the 1929 Palestine riots
1929 Palestine riots
The 1929 Palestine riots, also known as the Western Wall Uprising, the 1929 Massacres, , or the Buraq Uprising , refers to a series of demonstrations and riots in late August 1929 when a long-running dispute between Muslims and Jews over access to the Western Wall in Jerusalem escalated into violence...
and the 1936 riots he took an active part in the fight for Tel Aviv. Between 1932 and 1939 he served as an emissary for Betar and the Irgun in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
and the Baltic countries
Baltic countries
The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...
. In 1933 he was arrested for five weeks under suspicion of being connected to Brit HaBirionim
Brit HaBirionim
Brit HaBirionim was a clandestine, self-declared fascist faction of the Revisionist Zionist Movement in the British Mandate of Palestine, active between 1930 and 1933. It was founded by the trio of Abba Ahimeir, Uri Zvi Greenberg and Dr...
.
On the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he was sent on an Irgun mission to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and participated in the establishment of the "Committee for the Creation of a Hebrew Army”. Together with Hillel Kook
Hillel Kook
Hillel Kook , also known as Peter Bergson , was a Revisionist Zionist activist, politician, and prominent member of the Irgun.-Early life:...
, Ari Jabotinsky
Ari Jabotinsky
Eri Jabotinsky was a Revisionist Zionist activist, Israeli politician and academic. He was the son of Ze'ev Jabotinsky, the founder of the opposition movement within Zionism at the time, and later served in the Knesset between 1949 and 1951, as a member of the opposition Herut party of Menachem...
, Shmuel Merlin
Shmuel Merlin
Shmuel Merlin was a Revisionist Zionist activist, Irgun member and Israeli politician.-Biography:Merlin was born in Kishinev in the Russian Empire , where he attended high school and joined the Betar movement. From 1933 to 1938 he was Chief Secretary of the Executive of the World Union of...
and Yitzhak Ben-Ami, he founded the "Committee for the Rescue of European Jewry" and later on the "Committee for National Liberation".
In 1943 he returned to Palestine on a mission for the Committee for the Rescue of European Jewry. He met with Menachem Begin
Menachem Begin
' was a politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of the State of Israel. Before independence, he was the leader of the Zionist militant group Irgun, the Revisionist breakaway from the larger Jewish paramilitary organization Haganah. He proclaimed a revolt, on 1 February 1944,...
, who asked him to become a member of the first Irgun General Headquarters. In April 1944 he was once again arrested by the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, and was one of 251 detainees exiled
Irgun and Lehi internment in Africa
From 1944 to 1948, Irgun and Lehi men being held without trial at the Latroun concentration camp were deported by the British Mandate of Palestine authorities to internment camps in Africa, located in Sembel , Carthago, Sudan, and Gilgil...
in October of that year to Asmara
Asmara
Asmara is the capital city and largest settlement in Eritrea, home to a population of around 579,000 people...
, Eritrea
Eritrea
Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...
, where he was the representative of the exiles before the British authorities. In January 1947 he succeeded in escaping with several comrades and made his way to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, where he made arrangements for the Altalena.
In 1948 he returned to the newly declared State of Israel and was among the founders and leaders of the Herut
Herut
Herut was the major right-wing political party in Israel from the 1940s until its formal merger into Likud in 1988, and an adherent of Revisionist Zionism.-History:...
movement. He also helped establish Israel's relations with France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. He was elected for Herut to the first through fifth Knesset
Knesset
The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...
s, and for Gahal
Gahal
Gahal , lit. Herut-Liberals Bloc) was the major right-wing political faction in Israel led by Menachem Begin from its founding in 1965 until it merged into Likud in 1973.-Background:...
to the sixth and seventh. He was a member of the Finance, Economic Affairs, Foreign Affairs & Defense and Internal Affairs Committees, as well as Deputy Speaker of the Knesset. He was one of the first to propose a referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
as a proviso for crucial decisions, as part of his party's opposition to the Reparations Agreement between Israel and West Germany
Reparations Agreement between Israel and West Germany
The Reparations Agreement between Israel and West Germany was signed on September 10, 1952, and entered in force on March 27, 1953...
.
He died in 1970 while still an MK, and was replaced by Gideon Patt
Gideon Patt
Gideon Patt is a former Israeli politician who served in several ministerial positions between the late 1970s and early 1980s.-Biography:Born in Jerusalem during the Mandate era, Patt served in the Nahal brigade and studied economics at New York University, gaining a BA.For the 1969 elections he...
. The Israeli settlement
Israeli settlement
An Israeli settlement is a Jewish civilian community built on land that was captured by Israel from Jordan, Egypt, and Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and is considered occupied territory by the international community. Such settlements currently exist in the West Bank...
of Beit Aryeh was named after him. A prominent street, Rachov Ben Eliezer, in the Israeli town of Ramat Gan is also named in his honor.