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Yisrael Bar-YehudaIsraeli politician and statesman
Date of Birth: 15.11.1895
Country:  Israel |
Content:
Early Life
Israeli political leader Yisrael Bar-Yehuda was born in Konotop, Russian Empire (present-day Sumy Oblast, Ukraine) in 1895. His father, Baruch, was an accountant and a follower of Chabad, while his mother, Bluma, was a homemaker. The family spoke Russian at home. Bar-Yehuda was related to Abraham Idelson, a prominent Zionist leader, and musicologist Abraham Zvi Idelson. After moving to Yekaterinoslav (present-day Dnipropetrovsk), he attended secondary school there and later graduated from the Yekaterinoslav Mining Institute.
Zionist Activism
At 14, Bar-Yehuda joined the Zionist organization "Children of Zion" and later "HaZeir". Inspired by Zionism, he pursued mining engineering with the goal of contributing to oil exploration in Israel. During World War I, he became the head of the Yekaterinoslav branch of "HaZeir" and learned Yiddish to connect with refugees. He became the secretary of the Zionist Socialist Central Committee and married Beva Idelson.
Arrest and Exile
In 1922, Bar-Yehuda and his wife were arrested by Soviet authorities and exiled to Siberia. Upon the intervention of Maxim Gorky's wife, their exile was commuted to deportation from the Soviet Union. The couple moved to Lithuania and then to Berlin via Danzig. In Berlin, they were actively involved in the establishment of the World Union of Socialist Zionists, with Bar-Yehuda serving as the movement's secretary.
Palestine and Later Life
In 1926, Bar-Yehuda immigrated to Palestine. He became the secretary of the Petah Tikva Workers' Council and played a role in organizing the protection of Jewish workers. In 1930, he joined Kibbutz Yagur and became its secretary six years later. During the Arab revolt of 1936-39, he advocated for "active defense" against Arab attacks on Jewish settlements.
Bar-Yehuda served as a delegate to the National and Constituent Assemblies. He rose to prominence within the Mapai Party and later became a leader of Ahdut HaAvoda after Mapai split in 1944. From 1960 to 1962, he was the General Secretary of Ahdut HaAvoda.
He was elected to the Knesset in its first and second sessions as a member of MAPAM and subsequently of Ahdut HaAvoda from the third to fifth sessions. He served on various Knesset committees, including Construction, Constitution, Law and Justice, Foreign Affairs and Defense, Labor, and Finance. Bar-Yehuda also served on the Finance Committee and chaired the subcommittee for drafting Israel's Basic Laws. In the third Knesset, he became the Deputy Speaker.
From 1955 to 1962, Israel Bar-Yehuda served as Minister of the Interior and then as Minister of Transport until his death in 1965. Bar-Yehuda Airport and the road leading from Kibbutz Yagur were named in his honor.
