Israel Eldad

Israel Eldad (originally Israel Scheib, born November 11, 1910 in Podwoloczyska, Galicia, † January 22, 1996 in Jerusalem; Sambatyon pseudonym ) was at the time of the British Mandate Palestine a Jewish underground fighters, founding member and chief ideologist of the organization Lehi.

Life

Eldad visited the Rabbinical School in Łódź and studied philosophy and history at the University of Vienna. He was an active member of Betar and wrote literary and political contributions to various Polish-Jewish organizations. In 1941, he fled the Soviet occupied Vilna to Palestine, where he became a teacher in Tel Aviv. Soon he became chief ideologue of the Lehi underground organization and editor of its magazine, the monthly publication of He- Chasit ( " The Front" ) and the weekly Ha - Ma'as. On the run from British pursuers he was wounded, arrested and imprisoned a half years in prison camp at Latrun, until he was in 1946 by Lehi members in the hospital in Jerusalem, where he was to be treated, free. Until the Israeli state was founded, he continued his underground activities. Later he formed the extreme right-wing group Chasit ha - Moledet ( " Home Front "), which was declared after the assassination of UN mediator Folke Bernadotte on September 9, 1948 by the Israeli government to be illegal. While some members of this organization were arrested, Eldad be kept hidden and so the arrest could escape. From 1949 he was editor of the magazine Sullam ( " The Head "), which represented extreme nationalist views. He represented the conquest of Israel in its maximum " Biblical borders " and advocated the expulsion of the local Arab population. 1950 Ben-Gurion issued an order to dismiss him because of his views from the education service; Eldad was, however, however, the Israeli High Court action and received law. From 1962 on, he was for 20 years a lecturer at the Technion in Haifa and at the Ariel University Center of Samaria since 1982. 1988 he was awarded the Bialik Prize.