Yosef Almogi

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Yosef Almogi
Date of birth	5 May 1910
Year of Aliyah	1930
Date of death	2 November 1991
Knesset(s)	3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th
Party	Alignment
Former parties	Mapai, Rafi
Gov't roles (current in bold)	Minister without Portfolio Minister of Housing Minister of Development Minister of Labor

Yosef Aharon Almogi (Hebrew: יוסף אהרון אלמוגי‎, born 5 May 1910, died 2 November 1991) was an Israeli politician.

Born Josef Karlenboim in Hrubieszow, Poland, he joined the Dror movement in 1924 and moved to Mandate Palestine in 1930. He served as a commander of the Hagana in Kfar Saba, Tel Aviv (1936) and Haifa (1937). In 1940 he enlisted in the British Army, and fought in Greece. He was captured and spent the remainder of the War in a German POW camp.

Upon returning to Israel after the war, Almogi became active in politics and joined David Ben-Gurion's Mapai. He was active in the Haifa Workers Council, serving as Alternate Secretary from 1947 to 1951 and then Secretary from 1951 to 1959. He was the General Secretary of Mapai from 1959 to 1961.

First elected to the Knesset in the 1955 elections, Almogi was made Minister without Portfolio after the 1961 elections, before taking over the roles of Minister of Housing and Minister of Development in October 1962. When Levi Eshkol replaced Ben-Gurion as PM in 1963, Almogi kept both positions.

However, when Ben-Gurion led a breakaway from Mapai to form Rafi shortly before the 1965 elections, Almogi followed, losing his cabinet position in the process. Elected back to the Knesset on Rafi's list, Almogi became Minister of Labour in July 1968 when together with Mapam, Rafi merged into Eshkol's Alignment (a merger of Mapai and Labour Unity). He retained his position after the 1969 elections, but was not included in Golda Meir's cabinet after the 1973 elections.

During his last term in the Knesset, Almogi also briefly served as the mayor of Haifa (1974 – 1975). He then served as chairman of the World Zionist Organization from 1975 to 1978.

He died in Haifa on November 2, 1991.

[edit] Books by Yosef Almogi

• (1982) Total Commitment. Herzl Press. ISBN 0-8453-4749-7. 
• (1988) The Struggle for Ben-Gurion (in hebrew). ISBN 965-248-089-4. 

[edit] References

• Yosef Almogi on the Knesset website (in English)
• Sachar, Howard M. (1979). A History of Israel From the Rise of Zionism to Our Time. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0-394-73679-6.