Yaakov Hazan
Encyclopedia
Ya'akov Hazan was an Israel
i politician and social activist.
in the Russian Empire
(now Brest
, Belarus
) to parents Haim Yehuda H. and Malka Kaminetzki. He studied in a Heder and a Hebrew high school. In 1915, he was among the founders of the "Hebrew Scouts movement" in Poland
(later to become Hashomer Hatzair
), where he was also one of first members of HeHalutz
. He studied at Warsaw Polytechnic
. He immigrated
to Mandate Palestine in 1923, working in an orchard in Hadera
and in drying swamps in the Beit She'an valley. In 1926, he Joined Kibbutz
"Hashomer HaTzair B", which would later establish Mishmar HaEmek
.
Hazan became a central figure in the Kibbutz Artzi movement. He actively participated in turning the movement into a kernel of a political party. He served in various positions of the Histadrut
and the Zionist movement and major Yishuv
institutions. Along with Meir Yaari, he led HaShomer Hatzair, Kibbutz Artzi and Mapam
for decades, characterizing those movements by identification with the Soviet Union
and Communism
.
In 1948 he co-founded Mapam and since 1949 he was among the chief supporters of the party's pro-Soviet stand. He identified with the Soviet Union and the global communist movement in every aspect, except it’s attitude toward Zionism
, which he attributed to the Communist Party
’s misunderstanding. In 1952 he crowned The Soviet Union as the Jewish People's second homeland. Upon Stalin’s death, he wrote an emotional eulogy about him in Al HaMishmar. Following the Prague Trials he changed his mind and joined forces with Yaari to keep Moshe Sneh
, who held on to the pro-Soviet stand, out of the party.
Hazan was a Mapam (and later Alignment
) MK in the first through seventh Knesset
s from 1949 to 1973. In the fourth Knesset he was a member of the Knesset committee and in the fifth through seventh a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee
. He chose not to serve in national positions that would make him have to abandon his ideological, partisan, parliamentary and educational occupations, that had influence outside of Mapam as well. He supported the collaboration with Mapai
and establishing the Alignment in 1968. After the Six-Day War
he played an important part in Mapam's taking of dovish positions. In 1984 he opposed Mapam's participation in the national unity government
and supported the Alignment's disbandment. In the 1980s he was nominated for the Presidency
, and in 1992 he was listed last in Meretz
.
In 1989, he was awarded the Israel Prize
for his special contribution to society and the State of 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 and social activist.
Biography
Hazan was born in 1899 in Brest-LitovskBrest, Belarus
Brest , formerly also Brest-on-the-Bug and Brest-Litovsk , is a city in Belarus at the border with Poland opposite the city of Terespol, where the Bug River and Mukhavets rivers meet...
in the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
(now Brest
Brest, Belarus
Brest , formerly also Brest-on-the-Bug and Brest-Litovsk , is a city in Belarus at the border with Poland opposite the city of Terespol, where the Bug River and Mukhavets rivers meet...
, Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
) to parents Haim Yehuda H. and Malka Kaminetzki. He studied in a Heder and a Hebrew high school. In 1915, he was among the founders of the "Hebrew Scouts movement" 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...
(later to become Hashomer Hatzair
Hashomer Hatzair
Hashomer Hatzair is a Socialist–Zionist youth movement founded in 1913 in Galicia, Austria-Hungary, and was also the name of the group's political party in the Yishuv in the pre-1948 British Mandate of Palestine...
), where he was also one of first members of HeHalutz
Hehalutz
Hechalutz was an association of Jewish youth whose aim was to train its members to settle in the Land of Israel, which became an umbrella organization of the pioneering Zionist youth movements....
. He studied at Warsaw Polytechnic
Warsaw University of Technology
The Warsaw University of Technology is one of the leading institutes of technology in Poland, and one of the largest in Central Europe. It employs 2,453 teaching faculty, with 357 professors . The student body numbers 36,156 , mostly full-time. There are 17 faculties covering almost all fields of...
. He 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 Mandate Palestine in 1923, working in an orchard in Hadera
Hadera
Hadera is a city located in the Haifa District of Israel approximately from the major cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa. The city is located along of the Israeli Mediterranean Coastal Plain...
and in drying swamps in the Beit She'an valley. In 1926, he Joined Kibbutz
Kibbutz
A kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism...
"Hashomer HaTzair B", which would later establish Mishmar HaEmek
Mishmar HaEmek
Mishmar HaEmek is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located in the western Jezreel Valley, it falls under the jurisdiction of Megiddo Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 964....
.
Hazan became a central figure in the Kibbutz Artzi movement. He actively participated in turning the movement into a kernel of a political party. He served in various positions of the Histadrut
Histadrut
HaHistadrut HaKlalit shel HaOvdim B'Eretz Yisrael , known as the Histadrut, is Israel's organization of trade unions. Established in December 1920 during the British Mandate for Palestine, it became one of the most powerful institutions of the State of Israel.-History:The Histadrut was founded in...
and the Zionist movement and major Yishuv
Yishuv
The Yishuv or Ha-Yishuv is the term referring to the body of Jewish residents in Palestine before the establishment of the State of Israel...
institutions. Along with Meir Yaari, he led HaShomer Hatzair, Kibbutz Artzi and Mapam
Mapam
Mapam was a political party in Israel and is one of the ancestors of the modern-day Meretz party.-History:Mapam was formed by a January 1948 merger of the Hashomer Hatzair Workers Party and Ahdut HaAvoda Poale Zion Movement. The party was originally Marxist-Zionist in its outlook and represented...
for decades, characterizing those movements by identification with the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and Communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
.
In 1948 he co-founded Mapam and since 1949 he was among the chief supporters of the party's pro-Soviet stand. He identified with the Soviet Union and the global communist movement in every aspect, except it’s attitude toward Zionism
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
, which he attributed to the Communist Party
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
’s misunderstanding. In 1952 he crowned The Soviet Union as the Jewish People's second homeland. Upon Stalin’s death, he wrote an emotional eulogy about him in Al HaMishmar. Following the Prague Trials he changed his mind and joined forces with Yaari to keep Moshe Sneh
Moshe Sneh
Moshe Sneh was an Israeli politician and military figure. One of the founders of Mapam, he later joined the Israeli Communist Party , and was one of the leaders of a more pro-Israeli split in 1965.-Biography:...
, who held on to the pro-Soviet stand, out of the party.
Hazan was a Mapam (and later Alignment
Alignment (political party)
The Alignment was an alliance of the major left-wing parties in Israel between the 1960s and 1990s. It was established in 1965 as an alliance of Mapai and Ahdut HaAvoda but was dissolved three years later when the two parties and Rafi formally merged into the Israeli Labor Party...
) MK in the first through seventh 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 from 1949 to 1973. In the fourth Knesset he was a member of the Knesset committee and in the fifth through seventh a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee
Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee
The Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee is a permanent Knesset committee which oversees key Foreign and Defense areas, including the drafting of legislation, supervision over related government ministries and the approval of their budgests...
. He chose not to serve in national positions that would make him have to abandon his ideological, partisan, parliamentary and educational occupations, that had influence outside of Mapam as well. He supported the collaboration with Mapai
Mapai
Mapai was a left-wing political party in Israel, and was the dominant force in Israeli politics until its merger into the Israeli Labor Party in 1968...
and establishing the Alignment in 1968. After the Six-Day War
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
he played an important part in Mapam's taking of dovish positions. In 1984 he opposed Mapam's participation in the national unity government
National unity government
A national unity government, government of national unity, or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other national emergency.- Canada :During World War I the Conservative government of Sir...
and supported the Alignment's disbandment. In the 1980s he was nominated for the Presidency
President of Israel
The President of the State of Israel is the head of state of Israel. The position is largely an apolitical ceremonial figurehead role, with the real executive power lying in the hands of the Prime Minister. The current president is Shimon Peres who took office on 15 July 2007...
, and in 1992 he was listed last in Meretz
Meretz-Yachad
New Movement-Meretz , previously known as Meretz, then Yachad, and then Meretz-Yachad is a left-wing, Zionist, social democratic political party in Israel....
.
In 1989, he was awarded the Israel Prize
Israel Prize
The Israel Prize is an award handed out by the State of Israel and is largely regarded as the state's highest honor. It is presented annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state ceremony in Jerusalem, in the presence of the President, the Prime Minister, the Knesset chairperson, and the...
for his special contribution to society and the State of Israel.
Selected writings
- The Labor Movement and the War (1943)
- The Kibbutz in the Test of Time (1958)
- Conclusions and Future Tasks (1964)
- At the Crossroads of Decisions (1968)
- Confusion, Protest and Solution (1974)
- A New Beginning (1988)
- Childhood and Youth (1993), autobiography