Yossi Harel

Yossi Harel (Hebrew יוסי הראל, born Joseph Hamburger, born January 4, 1918 in Jerusalem, † April 26, 2008 in Tel Aviv) was a senior officer of the Mossad.

Life

Harel was born in 1918 in Jerusalem. His ancestors for five generations were already living in the city. Harel joined the underground army Haganah at the age of 15 years. David Ben Gurion appreciated his leadership and gave him after the Second World War, the command of the illegal immigrant ships.

Yossi Harel was the commander of the ship Exodus, which brought together more than 4,500 Holocaust survivors in the former League of Nations Mandate of Palestine one year before the creation of Israel. At 27 Harel had already performed the command of the main immigrant ships, except the exodus those were the Knesset Israel, the Atzma'ut and the Kibbutz Galuiot. With these transports Harel brought about 25,000 people to Palestine. However, the peak in Harel's career made ​​the two and a half week trip to the Knesset Israel dar.

The special case of illegal Einwanderschiffes Exodus brought the decisive turning point in the international opinion. After the British Navy had applied the ship, and the passengers were transported through France to Germany, where they were interned in two camps in Luebeck- Kücknitz, the case attracted worldwide attention. As a result, the idea of ​​establishing a Jewish state was in the world, more and more public buoyancy and eventually led on May 14, 1948 declaration of independence of Israel.

In later years he studied in the USA; thereafter he worked under Moshe Dayan for the Israeli military intelligence, before he became an entrepreneur. As an intelligence officer, he examined the so-called Lavon Affair.

Paul Newman played in the Hollywood film Exodus from 1960 a figure that was modeled Harel.

Yossi Harel died of a heart attack in 2008.