Yisrael Galili

MKs


Date of birth = 10 February 1911
Place of birth = Brailov, Russian Empire
Year of Aliyah = 1914
Date of death = 8 February 1986
Place of death =
Knesset(s) = 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th
Party = Alignment
Former parties = Mapam, Ahdut HaAvoda
Gov't roles = Minister without Portfolio
Minister of Information

Yisrael Galili ( _he. ישראל גלילי, born Yisrael Berchenko on 10 February 1911, died 8 February 1986) was an Israeli politician and member of Knesset. Before Israel's independence in 1948, he had served as Chief of Staff of the Haganah.

Biography

Galili was born in the town of Brailov in the Russian Empire (now Ukraine). His family immigrated to Palestine when he was three years old, and settled in Tel Aviv. Galili attended school there and apprenticed with a printer.

Galili began his military career in 1927, when he enlisted in the Haganah. He was appointed to the organization's leadership committee in 1935, and was later placed in charge of Acquisitions and Armaments. During the Second World War, he was involved in preparations to counter an anticipated German invasion of Palestine. He was appointed Chief of Staff of the Haganah in 1946, and served in that capacity until the group was disbanded by David Ben-Gurion in 1948, upon the establishment of the State of Israel.

Galili was also a founder of the HaNoar HaOved ("Working Youth") youth group, and of Na'an, a kibbutz where he lived until his death. He served in the first Knesset from 1949 to 1951, and then again from 1955 until 1977, first on behalf of the Mapam party, before being part of the split that formed Ahdut HaAvoda and later merged into the Alignment. He served briefly as Minister of Information and was Minister without Portfolio in several governments. One of Prime Minister Golda Meir's top advisers, and member of her Cabinet, he was also a member of the prestigious Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and on the Ministerial Committee for Settlement.

External links

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