Galili, Yisrael

Yisrael Galili, original name Israel Berczenko, (born May 1911, Brailov, Ukraine, Russian Empire [now in Ukraine]—died February 8, 1986, Kibbutz Naʾan, Israel), Russian-born political commander of the Haganah, Israeli’s preindependence defense force.

When Galili was four years old, his family moved to Palestine. He was active in the self-defense forces and as an organizer of the youth movement of the Histadrut when barely in his teens. In 1930 he founded Kibbutz Naʾan, which served as an armoury for the Haganah. After resigning from the Haganah high command in 1948, he founded the left-wing party Aḥdut ha-ʿAvoda–Poʿale Tziyyon (“Unity of Labour–Workers of Zion”), which he ran until it merged with several other parties to form the Israel Labour Party in 1963. Galili served in government as minister of information and as the man chiefly responsible for Labour Party policy in the territories occupied by Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967. His policy toward the occupied territories allowed for the return of some areas in a peace agreement, as well as settlement of others. After leaving politics in 1980, Galili devoted his time to educational programs on his kibbutz.