Though they may have played important roles in helping Israel achieve statehood, these 75 people deserve recognition for what they did after Israel’s Declaration of Independence on May 14, 1948. Everyone on this list either is dead or has largely retired from the area of greatest influence. Those still playing an active role in shaping Israel appear on our separate list of current essential Israelis. Those whose greatest influence came before statehood appear on our list of Zionist founders, and we have lists of current Israelis and non-Israelis.
Back to lists page
View as PDF
S.Y. Agnon, 1888-1970
Reuven Alcalay, 1907-1976
Yigal Allon, 1918-1980
Shulamit Aloni, 1928-2014
Natan Alterman, 1910-1970
Yehuda Amichai, 1924-2000
Aharon Appelfeld, 1932-2018
Gabriel Baer, 1919-1982
Aharon Barak, 1936-
Salo Wittmayer Baron, 1895-1989
Shulamit Bat-Dori, 1904-1985
Menachem Begin, 1913-1992
Dorit Beinisch, 1942-
David Ben-Gurion, 1886-1973
Miriam Ben-Porat, 1918-2012
Mordechai Bentov, 1900-1985
Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, 1884-1963
Martin Buber, 1878-1965
Eli Cohen, 1924-1965
Moshe Dayan, 1915-1981
Edis De Philippe, 1912-1979
Abba Eban, 1915-2002
Eliyahu Elath, 1903-1990
Arik Einstein, 1939-2013
Shmuel Eisenstadt, 1923-2010
Levi Eshkol, 1895-1969
Amir Gilboa, 1917-1984
Leah Goldberg, 1911-1970
Gila Goldstein, 1947-2017
Leah Gottlieb, 1918-2012
Abraham Granot, 1890-1962
Gideon Hausner, 1915-1990
Ofra Haza, 1957-2000
Chaim Herzog, 1918-1997
Eliezer Hoofien, 1881-1957
David Horowitz, 1899-1979
Eli Hurvitz, 1932-2011
Salim Joubran, 1947-
Eliezer Kaplan, 1891-1952
Jacob Katz, 1904-1998
Ephraim Kishon, 1924-2005
Israel Kolatt, 1927-2007
Teddy Kollek, 1911-2007
Rabbi Moshe Levinger, 1935-2015
Sarah Levy-Tanai, 1910-2005
Ehud Manor, 1941-2005
Golda Meir, 1898-1978
Yoni Netanyahu, 1946-1976
Ehud Olmert, 1945-
Shaike Ophir, 1928-1987
Amos Oz, 1939-2018
Shimon Peres, 1923-2016
Yehoshua Porath, 1938-2019
Yitzhak Rabin, 1922-1995
Gideon Rafael, 1913-1999
Ilan Ramon, 1954-2003
Hanna Rovina, 1888-1980
Pinhas Sapir, 1906-1975
Gershom Scholem, 1897-1982
Yitzhak Shamir, 1915-2012
Moshe Sharett, 1894-1965
Ariel Sharon, 1928-2014
Naomi Shemer, 1930-2004
Reuven Shiloah, 1909-1959
Moshe Sneh, 1909-1972
Yosef Sprinzak, 1885-1959
Chaim Topol, 1935-
Ephraim Urbach, 1912-1991
Rabbi Zerach Warhaftig, 1906-2002
Yosef Weitz, 1890-1972
Ezer Weizman, 1924-2005
Chaim Weizmann, 1874-1952
Yigael Yadin, 1917-1984
A.B. Yehoshua, 1936-2022
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, 1920-2013
