David-Zvi Pinkas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

David-Zvi Pinkas

Date of birth	5 December 1895
Place of birth	Sopron, Austria-Hungary
Year of Aliyah	1925
Date of death	14 August 1952
Knesset(s)	1st, 2nd
Party	Mizrahi
Former parties	United Religious Front
Gov't roles (current in bold)	Minister of Transport

David-Zvi Pinkas (Hebrew: דוד-צבי פנקס‎, born 5 December 1895, died 14 August 1952) was a Zionist activist and Israeli politician. A signatory of the Israeli declaration of independence, he was the country's third Minister of Transport.

[edit] Biography

Born in Sopron in Austria-Hungary (today in Hungary), Pinkas attended high school in Vienna, before studying at a yeshiva in Freiburg and law at the University of Vienna. He was involved in Zionist youth groups, and was one of the leaders of Young Mizrahi in Vienna and one of the founders of the Yeshuran movement.

In 1923 he was a delegate to the 13th Zionist congress, and two years later immigrated to Mandate Palestine. He became director of Mizrahi Bank in 1932, the same year in which he was elected to Tel Aviv city council. Three years later he was appointed head of the city's education department.

In 1944 he became a member of the Vaad Leumi, and was therefore one of the people to sign the Israeli declaration of independence in 1948. During the subsequent Arab-Israeli War, he was one of the leaders of the security committee.

Pinkas' tomb (left, with his wife, Leah on the right) in Tel Aviv

Following independence, Pinkas assumed membership of the Provisional State Council, and was responsible for drawing up the regulations for the council's committees. In Israel's first elections in 1949 he was elected to the Knesset as a member of the United Religious Front, an alliance of Agudat Israel, Agudat Israel Workers, Mizrahi (Pinkas' party) and Mizrahi Workers, and served as chairman of the influential finance committee. In 1950 he was also elected Deputy Mayor of Tel Aviv.

In the 1951 elections Mizrahi ran alone, and Pinkas retained his seat, though the party won only two mandates. He was appointed Minister of Transport, and remained chairman of the finance committee. However, he died in August 1952 and was buried in the Trumpeldor cemetery in Tel Aviv.