Eliezer Kaplan

Eliezer Kaplan (* 1891 in Minsk, Russian Empire; † July 13, 1952 in Tel Aviv, Israel) was a Zionist workers' leader, Israeli politician ( Mapai, a member of the 1st and 2nd Knesset), and the first Finance Minister of the State of Israel.

Life and work

Kaplan was born in Minsk in present-day Belarus and received his education in the cheder, the Russian school in Łowicz and at the Technical University in Moscow. He finished his studies in 1917 with a degree in civil engineering. In 1920 he went to Eretz Israel. He was among the leaders of the Histadrut 1929-1933 and was secretary of the Executive Committee. From 1933 to 1948 he was a member of the Jewish Agency with responsibility for the distribution of funds. He was also a councilor of Tel Aviv in the years 1925-1933.

Kaplan was one of four representatives of the Jewish National Council, who voted against the Declaration of Independence on 14 May 1948 it but then signed with.

After establishment of Israel Kaplan was appointed the first Minister of Finance. On July 30, 1948, he was the creation of a separate Israeli currency announce: An Israeli pounds equivalent to about four dollars. During his tenure, he managed to get first loan from abroad who preserved the Israeli market to collapse. In 1952 he planned the " New Economic Policy " and commenced its enforcement. A few weeks before his death, he resigned and was appointed First Deputy Prime Minister of Israel. 1949-1950 he had held office as Minister of Trade and Industry.

According to him, the Kaplan Hospital in Rehovot -, the district Qirjat Eliezer in Netanya, the Kaplan neighborhood in Kfar Saba and many streets were named in Israeli cities.