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Geulah Cohen

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Geulah Cohen
Faction represented in the Knesset
1974–1979Likud
1979–1992Tehiya
Personal details
Born(1925-12-25)25 December 1925
Tel Aviv, Mandatory Palestine
Died18 December 2019(2019-12-18) (aged 93)
Israel
Signature

Geulah Cohen (Hebrew: גאולה כהן; 25 December 1925 – 18 December 2019) was an Israeli politician and activist who founded the Tehiya party. She won the Israel Prize in 2003. Between 1974 and 1992, she served as a member of Knesset, initially for Likud. She changed her political affiliation to Tehiya in 1979. In 1992, she lost her seat in the Knesset.

Life and career

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Geulah Cohen was born in Tel Aviv, Mandatory Palestine to a Mizrahi Jewish family of Yemenite, Moroccan and Turkish origin.[1] She was the daughter of Miriam and Yosef Cohen.[2] She studied at the Levinsky Teachers Seminary, and earned a master's degree in Jewish Studies, Philosophy, Literature and Bible at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.[3]

Cohen as a radio broadcaster for the Lehi underground station in 1948

In 1942 she joined the Irgun, and moved to Lehi the following year.[4][5][6] As a radio announcer for the organization, she was arrested by British military authorities in 1946[7] while broadcasting in Tel Aviv. She escaped custody in May, shortly before her trial, but was recaptured by a group of Arabs.[1] On June 6, 1946, she was sentenced to seven years in prison (the Encyclopaedia Judaica lists the sentence as 19 years) for possessing a wireless transmitter, pistols, revolvers, and ammunition. During sentencing she sang "Hatikvah" and was accompanied by 30 members of her family.[8] Imprisoned in Bethlehem, she escaped in 1947.[7]

Cohen was editor of the Lehi newspaper Youth Front. Following the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948, she contributed to Sulam, a monthly magazine published by former Lehi leader Israel Eldad.[1]

Cohen was married to former Lehi comrade Emanuel Hanegbi.[9] From 1961 to 1973, she wrote for the Israeli newspaper Maariv and served on its editorial board.[10] During her career as a journalist, she visited Menachem Mendel Schneerson in New York, who encouraged her to focus on engaging with Israeli youth.[11]

Cohen died on December 18, 2019, at the age of 93. She was buried at the Mount of Olives Jewish Cemetery in Jerusalem.[1]

Political career

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In 1972, Cohen joined Menachem Begin's Herut party,[7] which was then part of the Gahal alliance. She was elected to the Knesset the following year, by which time Gahal had merged into Likud. She was re-elected in 1977.[12]

As an opponent of the Camp David Accords and the return of Sinai Peninsula to Egypt, Cohen was thrown out of the Knesset during Begin's presentation of the agreement.[7] In 1979, Cohen and Moshe Shamir left Likud to establish a new far-right party, initially called Banai, later Tehiya-Bnai, and then Tehiya.[7] The new party was a strong supporter of Gush Emunim and included prominent members from Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza such as Hanan Porat and Elyakim Haetzni.[13]

Cohen retained her seat in the 1981 elections, and Tehiya joined Begin's coalition government.[14] She was re-elected in 1984 and 1988. In June 1990, following a coalition crisis, she was appointed to the cabinet as Deputy Minister of Science and Technology.[14]

Cohen lost her seat in the 1992 elections.[1] That year, she rejoined Likud and remained active in right-wing politics.[1] Her son, Tzachi Hanegbi, is a former Knesset member for the Likud.[1]

Views and opinions

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Cohen opposed territorial concessions. She was a vocal critic of the Camp David Accords in 1978 and of Israel's unilateral disengagement plan from Gaza in 2005.[15] She described herself as a "woman of violence" in the pursuit of political ends.[16]

Awards and recognition

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  • In 2003, Cohen was awarded the Israel Prize for her lifetime achievements and special contribution to society and the State of Israel.[17][18]
  • In 2007, she received the Yakir Yerushalayim (Worthy Citizen of Jerusalem) award from the city of Jerusalem.[19]

Published work

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  • Story of a Warrior (1961; Hebrew autobiography)
  • Woman of Violence: Memoirs of a Young Terrorist, 1943–1948. Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 1966. (autobiography)
  • Historical Meeting (1986) (Hebrew)
  • Ein li koah lehiyot ayefa ("No Strength To Be Tired"; 2008)

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Geula Cohen, pre-state underground fighter, veteran right-wing MK, dies at 93". The Times of Israel. 19 December 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  2. ^ Cohen, Geulah (1990). "The voice of valor".
  3. ^ Atkins, S.E. (2004). Encyclopedia of Modern Worldwide Extremists and Extremist Groups. Greenwood Press. p. 66. ISBN 978-0-313-32485-7. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  4. ^ BenDov, H. Nobody Wants To Die. PublishAmerica. ISBN 978-1-4560-8194-2. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  5. ^ Heller, J. (1995). The Stern Gang: Ideology, Politics, and Terror, 1940–1949. F. Cass. p. 265. ISBN 978-0-7146-4558-2. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  6. ^ [1] Archived 4 May 2018 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ a b c d e washingtonpost.com: "Fighter in the Promised Land, Geula Cohen and the New Zionism", 11 October 1978
  8. ^ "Girl Zionist Sentenced," page 11, The New York Times, 7 June 1946.
  9. ^ Bowker-Saur (1991). Who's Who of Women in World Politics. Bowker-Saur. ISBN 978-0-86291-627-5. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  10. ^ Viorst, M. (1987). Sands of Sorrow: Israel's Journey from Independence. Tauris. p. 216. ISBN 978-1-85043-064-3. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  11. ^ "If I Forget Thee, Oh Jerusalem… - Program Three Hundred Twenty Seven – Living Torah – Geulah Cohen". chabad.org. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  12. ^ Gorenberg, G. (2007). The Accidental Empire: Israel and the Birth of the Settlements, 1967–1977. Henry Holt and Company. p. 281. ISBN 978-0-8050-8241-8. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  13. ^ Tessler, M.A. (1994). A History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Indiana University Press. p. 646. ISBN 978-0-253-20873-6. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  14. ^ a b Lochery, N. (1997). The Israeli Labour Party: In the Shadow of the Likud. Ithaca Press. p. 184. ISBN 978-0-86372-217-2. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  15. ^ "ארכיון המדינה". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  16. ^ Cohen 1966
  17. ^ "Israel Prize Official Site (in Hebrew) – Recipient's C.V."
  18. ^ "Israel Prize Official Site (in Hebrew) – Judges' Rationale for Grant to Recipient".
  19. ^ "Recipients of Yakir Yerushalayim award (in Hebrew)". Archived from the original on 17 June 2011. City of Jerusalem official website
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