Yisrael Yeshayahu

Yeshayahu was born in 1908 in Sadan, Yemen, and received a traditional ḥeder education before attending the yeshivah of Rabbi Yihye Kafah.[1] He was also active in Yemen’s Dor De’ah Movement.[1]

After immigrating to Palestine in 1929, he initially worked as a farm laborer in vineyards and on road construction.[1] He subsequently joined Mapai and became active in the Histadrut, heading its department for immigrants from Yemen and other Muslim countries from 1934 to 1948.[1]

In 1948, David Ben-Gurion appointed Yeshayahu deputy government secretary, with responsibility for contacts with the Knesset.[1] Between 1948 and 1952, he helped organize Jewish immigration from Yemen and was sent to Aden to organize Operation “Magic Carpet.”[1]

Yeshayahu entered the Knesset in February 1951, approximately nine months after the death of Abraham Tabib, the Mapai representative he replaced.[2] Yemenite-origin Mapai activists had pressed the party to ensure that the community retained a representative, fearing that Yemenite voters would otherwise feel unrepresented.[2] Although Yeshayahu stood 77th on the party list, party secretary Zalman Aran promoted his entry, and 26 candidates resigned to make a seat available to him.[2] Ben-Gurion supported the arrangement, which was regarded in the Yemenite community as significant and unusual in parliamentary practice.[2] Yeshayahu entered alongside four other new Mapai members replacing departing representatives.[2]

His parliamentary service extended through 1977, encompassing membership in the First through Eighth Knessets.[1][2] He was elected deputy speaker in November 1955, during the Third Knesset, and also served as deputy speaker in the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Knessets.[1][2] His committee work included membership of the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, the House Committee, and the Public Services Committee.[2]

On October 29, 1957, Yeshayahu was chairing the plenary as deputy speaker when a grenade attack occurred in the chamber; he suspended proceedings at 6:17 p.m.[4]

In January 1967, Yeshayahu became minister of postal services, serving in the governments of Levi Eshkol and Golda Meir until the end of 1969.[2] His appointment followed pressure within Mapai to appoint a minister of Yemenite origin; Eshkol characterized it as an “Ashkenazi gesture.”[2] Yeshayahu later expressed disappointment at leaving government, saying that he had served “only three years, not even a full term.”[2] The study presents competing interpretations of his political standing, noting both his demonstrated personal abilities and claims that his Yemenite origin was central to his advancement.[2]

He also served as secretary-general of the Israel Labor Party, succeeding Arieh Eliav after Eliav resigned a few months after his election.[5] The party’s first elected convention had brought together more than 3,000 delegates representing 300,000 members.[5] During the Seventh Knesset, Yeshayahu chaired the House Committee.[1]

Following the death of Re’uven Barkat, Yeshayahu was elected speaker of the Knesset on May 9, 1972, and held the office until June 13, 1977.[1] Affiliated with the Alignment, he presided during the Seventh and Eighth Knessets and was the first Mizrahi person to serve as speaker.[2][6] He was the Knesset’s fifth speaker.[6]

After Ephraim Katzir won the presidential election on April 11, 1973, by 66 votes to Ephraim Urbach’s 41, Katzir Hebraized his name at Yeshayahu’s request.[7] On October 29 that year, Yeshayahu attended a special Public Services Committee meeting at Tel Hashomer Hospital, chaired by Chika Grossman.[8] Committee members and senior health officials discussed whether the hospital system could accommodate the large number of wounded arriving from the front without compromising civilian care.[8] Responding to questions about gifts for wounded patients, Yeshayahu said that the Knesset had come to visit, not to distribute cigarettes.[8]

At the special Knesset session following the 1976 Entebbe raid, Yeshayahu ceremonially placed a kipa on his head and read a Psalm to open the proceedings.[3] A collection titled Devarim Be’ittam preserved speeches he delivered in plenary sessions, elsewhere in the Knesset building, and at state and public events.[9]

Yeshayahu’s publications included Mi-Teiman le-Ẓiyyon, prepared with Shimon Garidi in 1938, and Ba’al ha-Taltalim ve-Od Sippurim (“The Curly One and Other Stories”), published in 1979.[1] With Yosef Tobi, he co-edited Yahadut Teiman: Pirkei Mehkar ve-Iyyun (“The Jewry of Yemen: Chapters of Research and Study”).[1]

The second edition of the latter volume appeared in Jerusalem in 1975, published by Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi.[10] Alongside its Hebrew material, it included an English title page, contents, introduction, and summaries.[10]

Yeshayahu died in 1979, after a parliamentary career lasting 26 years.[1][2] His position as the first Mizrahi Knesset speaker and his work organizing immigration from Yemen connected his public career with the participation of Yemenite Jews in Israeli institutions.[1][2]

The library topic collection under his name lists 859 archival items and 521 photographs.[11] His published speeches and writings preserve material relating to his parliamentary activity and engagement with Yemenite Jewish life.[1][9]