Levi Eshkol

INTRODUCTION by Aviv Malki

Throughout history, there have been people who have influenced the way we live. Levi Eshkol is one of these people.

I chose to prepare this research project on Levi Eshkol for several reasons. To begin with, for me Levi Eshkol is the least known prime minister so I wanted to enrich my knowledge about him. In addition, I want to make him known to my classmates as well which I will be able to do as part of this project.

There are a number of things that I already know about Levi Eshkol. Firstly, I know that he was the third Minister of Defense in Israel.  In addition, I know that he was born in Russia.

I expect to learn new and interesting things about Levi Eshkol. First and foremost, I expect to find out what added value he brought to Israel as Prime Minister.  Also, I want to learn about his political views and what he supported and what  he didn’t  Finally, I would like to discover everything about Levi Eshkol.

Levi Eshkol has left his mark on the world. I am looking forward to finding out more about him.

First His Way

• Levi Eshkol was born on October 25, 1895 in the shtetl of Oratov, Lipovetsky Uyezd, Kiev Governorate, Russian Empire.
• In 1914 he immigrated to Eretz Israel, shortly before the First World War.  Towards the end of the war, Eshkol enlisted in the Hebrew battalion established in the British army.
• After the war in 1920, Eshkol was one of the founders of Kibbutz Degania B – a kibbutz where he lived for many years. In the same year he was also one of the founders of the Histadrut in Israel.

Public Activity

• In the 1920s, Levy Eshkol was one of the leaders of the labor movement and a representative in Zionist congresses and the Haganah organization. 
• In 1937 he initiated the establishment of Mekorot – the main water company of the Jewish community and now the national water company of Israel – and headed it until 1951.
• Between 1948 and 1940 he was a member of the Defense Staff and was responsible for procurement and equipment
• During the War of Independence, Eshkol was the assistant to Defense Minister David Ben-Gurion and served as the director general of the Ministry of Defense.

Minister Of Finance

• In the years 1963-1952, Eshkol was the Minister of Finance in the Israeli government.  During this period, the young and destitute state of Israel faced the great challenge of mass immigration to overcome the difficulties in housing the many immigrants, the government initiated the construction of transit camps – temporary neighborhoods for immigrants, whose buildings were temporary and made of wood and tin.
• During the years of his tenure, the Israeli economy grew and developed from a slump to prosperity.

Prime minister

In 1963, with the second resignation of David Ben-Gurion as Prime Minister, Eshkol was appointed Prime Minister and Minister of Defense.  Among his first moves were:

• Raising the bones of the leader of the Revisionist movement, Ze’ev Jabotinsky.
• Abolition of the military government imposed on Israeli Arabs since the establishment of the state.
• Strengthening security ties with the United States.
• In the 1960s, Eshkol led the construction of the IDF’s force in the face of threats from Arab countries, especially Syria and Egypt.

Six Days War

• Tensions between Israel and its neighbors peaked in 1967.  The President of Egypt closed the strait tyrant and prevented Israeli ships from reaching the port of Eilat, and in coordination with other Arab countries prepared for war with Israel The preparations for the war caused a deep sense of anxiety among the Israeli public.
• Eshkol did his best to calm the people’s anxiety, but his reluctance to face military action led to pressures that led him to appoint Moshe Dayan as defense minister.  A few days later, on June 5, 1967, the Six Day War broke out, and the IDF defeated the armies of Egypt, Jordan and Syria by six days.

After The War

• The Eshkol government applied Israeli law to the entire territory of Jerusalem Israel hoped that the results of the war would promote peace with its neighbors but this hope was disappointed.
• Levi Eshkol died on 26 February 1969, while serving as Prime Minister, and was buried in the plot of the nation’s greats on Mount Herzl, Jerusalem.