Ya'akov Meridor
| Ya'akov Meridor | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Date of birth | 29 September 1913 |
| Place of birth | Lipno, Poland |
| Year of aliyah | 1932 |
| Date of death | 30 June 1995 (aged 81) |
| Knessets | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10 |
| Faction represented in Knesset | |
| 1949–1951 | Herut |
| 1955–1965 | Herut |
| 1965–1969 | Gahal |
| 1981–1984 | Likud |
| Ministerial roles | |
| 1981–1984 | Minister of Economics & Inter-Ministry Co-ordination |
Ya'akov Meridor (Hebrew: יעקב מרידור, born Yaakov Viniarsky on 29 September 1913, died 30 June 1995) was an Israeli politician, Irgun commander, and businessman.
Meridor was born in Poland in 1913, as Yaakov Viniarsky, to a Jewish family of middle-class merchants. After hearing reports of the first Arab rebellion in Mandatory Palestine, he became a member of the Betar Movement in 1930. He studied law at the University of Warsaw.
He immigrated to Palestine in 1932, and joined the Irgun a year later. In 1941 he accompanied David Raziel on a mission to Iraq in order to sabotage oil fields on the outskirts of Baghdad. When Raziel was killed along with a British officer, Meridor returned to Palestine and took over as Chief Commander of the Irgun.
In 1943, Meridor relinquished command of the Irgun to Menachem Begin, but held senior positions in the Irgun until the Haganah handed him over to the British in 1945. He was sent to various detention camps in Africa, and carried out daring escape attempts. He was so eager to escape he refused to take a camp leadership position despite his senior rank in the Irgun. He finally succeeded in escaping in 1948, and arrived in Israel on the day independence was declared.
According to The Scotsman, the Irgun announced in Tel Aviv on 7 April 1948 that 'Jacob Meridor' had "taken over his war assignment" in Palestine. The Scotsman also reported that Meridor's first command was the raid on Pardes Hana military camp, South of Haifa, in which 6 British soldiers and their commanding officer, Lieut-Colonel G.L. Hilderbrand, were killed.
Under Begin he was charged with the task of managing the Irgun's integration in the newly formed Israel Defense Forces.
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