Yitzhak Ben-Zvi (Shimshelevitz) (1884

Lexicon of Terms

Political Biography

The President of Israel

Lexicon of Terms

Yitzhak Ben-Zvi (Shimshelevitz) (1884 – 1963)

Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, born Yitzhak Shimshelevitz, was the second President of the State of Israel from 1952 until 1963. He was also a member of the First and Second Knessets, a founding member of the Labor Movement, and a historian.

Ben-Zvi was born in Poltava, Ukraine. His father, Zvi Shimshelevitz, was a member of the "Bnei Moshe" society, founded by Ahad Ha’am. During his younger years he was educated in a "Cheder" which combined Jewish tradition with modern perspectives. In 1901 – 1905 he studied at a Russian school and afterwards he began his studies in the University of Kiev, which ended with the outbreak of the general strike in Russia. In 1904, Ben-Zvi visited Israel for the first time, for two months.

During the pogroms of 1905 Ben-Zvi was active with the local Jewish defense organization in Poltava. In 1906, he participated in the founding of "Poalei Zion" and took part in the formation of the movement’s manifest.

That year, a police search at his home yielded a stockpile of arms, belonging to the defense organization he headed at the time. His father was sent to life imprisonment in Siberia, where he stayed for 16 years until permitted to make Aliyah. Ben-Zvi himself fled to Vilnius, where he took part in underground activities with the central committee of "Poalei Zion." From Vilnius he left for Germany, Austria and Switzerland to recruit Jewish students to take part in Zionist activities. In Vienna he created a network of contacts between branches of the movement working in various countries. Towards the end of 1906, Ben-Zvi returned to Vilnius, the center of the movement, following Ber Borochov’s arrest.

Ben-Zvi made Aliyah in early 1907. That same year he was a delegate of the "Poalei Zion" branch from Eretz Yisrael to the Eighth Zionist Congress, held in Hague, and he also took part in the establishment of "Bar Giora" - an underground organization formed to take part in the defense of Jewish settlements. In 1909 he participated in the formation of "Hashomer," together with Rachel Yanait, who he married in 1918.

Following the Young Turk Revolution in 1909, Ben-Zvi was sent by "Poalei Zion" to Turkey. He visited in Izmir, Kushta, Thessaloniki, Beirut, and Damascus where he made contact with the Jewish communities. In Thessaloniki he encountered the last remaining Sabbateans, who later became his subject of research. In 1910 Ben-Zvi, together with Rachel Yanait and others, founded the first socialist Hebrew periodical in Eretz Yisrael – "Ahdut." His studies at the University of Kushta were interrupted by the World War I, and he returned to Israel until 1915 when "Ahdut" was shut down by the Ottoman authorities and Ben-Zvi was deported with Ben Gurion to Egypt because of their Zionist activities. Together with Ben Gurion, he left for New York, where they formed the HeHalutz movement, aimed to recruit and train a labor force for working in Eretz Yisrael. Several months later, upon the entry of the United States into the war, Ben-Zvi and Ben Gurion promoted volunteer recruitment into the Jewish Legion. They arrived to Israel with the Legion, but the British forces had already occupied the territory. Ben-Zvi later became an active member of the Hagana during the riots of 1920, 1922, and 1929, and served as coordinator between the Yishuv and the British Mandate Government.

He was elected as a member of the Executive Committee of the newly formed "Ahdut Ha’avoda" party. On behalf of the party, Ben-Zvi was sent to the world conference of "Poalei Zion" in Vienna and took part in the ideological argument over its affiliation with the International Socialist, as well as its position regarding Soviet socialism and the World Zionist Organization. These differences caused a split within the party and Ben-Zvi – along with Ben Gurion, Berl Katznelson and Yitzhak Tabankin – became the right-wing faction within the movement and assisted in its reorganization on the foundation of Zionism.

In 1920 Ben-Zvi was appointed by the British High Commissioner, Herbert Samuel, to the Advisory Council on Matters of Palestine. He resigned from this post following the quotas set for Aliyah after the 1929 riots, in protest of the Mandate Government’s policy. In 1920 he was also elected to the first Executive Committee of the Histadrut and as a member of the first Jewish National Council of Palestine (Vaad Leumi), in which he was elected as its chairman in 1931 and president in 1945. A significant part of his public activities were devoted to Jerusalem and its Jewish population. In 1927, he was elected to the city council. He resigned from it in 1929 in protest of the stand of the Arabic leadership in the city on the 1929 riots. In September 1934, he was reelected to the city council. He also participated in all Zionist Congresses held in the 1920’s and was the Yishuv’s representative to the St. James’ Conference, held in London in 1939 which aimed to bridge between the Jewish and Arab communities in Palestine.

After the establishment of the State of Israel, Ben-Zvi was a member of the First and Second Knessets representing Mapai. In 1952, following President Chaim Weizmann’s passing, he was elected as president. He was twice reelected to the post in 1957 and 1963, but passed away in 1963, while in office.

Ben-Zvi’s life’s work was his historical research: He headed the Institute for the Study of Jewish Communities in the Middle East, founded in 1948 and named "Ben-Zvi Institute" in his honor in 1952. Most of his research pertained to Jewish Communities in Asia and Africa and to congregations and sects, such as the Samaritans, Sabbateans, and Karaites. Many of his studies concerned the geography of Eretz Yisrael, its ancient inhabitants and antiquities.