Aaronsohn, who made aliyah to Ottoman Palestine as a 6-year-old in 1882, discovered a strain of emmer wheat that could sustain itself in harsh climates. The agronomist became known worldwide, even working with the U.S….
Aaronsohn was born in Zikhron Ya’akov in Ottoman Palestine. After witnessing the Armenian genocide, she decided to help the British against the Ottomans in World War I with the Nili ring of Jewish spies, founded…
A major general since 2021, Alian is the highest-ranking Druze officer in the IDF. He commanded COGAT, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, during the 2023-2025 war with Hamas and thus oversaw aid…
Allon led the Palmach and was an IDF major general who oversaw the Southern Command. He served in the Knesset from 1955 until his death. After the 1967 war, he proposed returning the West Bank…
Almog, a retired IDF major general, was unanimously nominated in June 2022 to serve a four-year term as the chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, succeeding Isaac Herzog. A paratrooper, Almog was the first…
Founder of the Meretz party, Aloni was known for advocating for peace and for human and civil rights, especially as a voice for women and against Orthodox control of society. She fought in the Palmach…
A Warsaw native who moved to Tel Aviv as a teen, Alterman was a playwright, poet, journalist and translator who influenced Labor Zionism and socialist Jewish policies despite never holding political office. He opposed martial…
Born in Germany, Amichai immigrated to Mandatory Palestine in 1935 and became one of Israel’s best-known poets and the poet laureate of Jerusalem. He fought for the British in World War II, then with the…
As Israel’s 10th prime minister and last from the Labor Party from 1999 to 2001, Barak ended the occupation of southern Lebanon, participated in the 2000 Camp David talks, was rebuffed by Yasser Arafat in…
Bat-Miriam, born in Belarus, is considered one of the four “mother poets” of modern Hebrew. Her 1937 book, “Eretz Yisrael,” examines the Land of Israel as a woman. She wrote many poems about biblical women…
Ben-Gurion was Israel’s first prime minister and its leading political force for two decades. Born in Poland, he arrived in Palestine in 1907. He formed socialist-leaning Mapai, the dominant political party, in 1930 and became…
Before becoming Israel’s second and longest-serving president in 1952, Ukraine-born Ben-Zvi co-founded Yishuv self-defense groups Bar Giora and Hashomer. He became a Poalei Zion leader after immigrating to Palestine in 1907. He was prominent in…
Israel’s 13th prime minister, Bennett was born in Haifa to U.S. immigrants. He was an IDF Sayeret Matkal commando and a software entrepreneur. He became the leader of the settler-supported Jewish Home party in 2012…
Bunche, an American diplomat, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950 for brokering the armistice agreements between Israel and four Arab neighbors in 1949. He served in 1947 with the U.N. Special Committee on Palestine,…
A native of Cape Town, South Africa, who was raised in England and made aliyah in 1944, Eban was a diplomat, politician and writer. With the Jewish Agency’s U.N. delegation, he was heavily involved in…
Eshkol, Israel’s third prime minister, was a farm worker after arriving from Ukraine in 1914. He organized labor and became a Mapai and Jewish Agency leader. He raised money for arms and for immigrant absorption….
Born in Belarus, Golomb settled in Palestine in 1909 and was part of the Herzliya Gymnasium’s first graduating class. A member of the Jewish Legion in World War I, he helped organize the Haganah and…
Hungarian-born Gruner joined the Betar movement and illegally immigrated to Palestine in 1940. He served in the British army’s Jewish Brigade to fight Nazis. After World War II he joined the Irgun. He was seriously…
A politician, lawyer, diplomat and writer who immigrated from Ireland to Israel in 1935, Herzog was Israel’s sixth president. He led IDF military intelligence after the War of Independence. When the U.N. General Assembly passed…
A journalist born in Odesa, Jabotinsky organized self-defense units and fought for Jewish rights in Russia. He attended most Zionist Congresses from 1903 to 1933. He co-founded the Zion Mule Corps in World War I….
The 36th U.S. president, Johnson increased U.S. economic and military support for Israel. Unlike Dwight Eisenhower in 1956, Johnson did not demand Israel’s immediate withdrawal from captured territory after the 1967 war. He outlined five…
Born in Ukraine and raised in Wisconsin, Meir rose in Labor Zionism with the Histadrut and engaged in diplomacy for the Jewish Agency and Israel, including trying to keep Transjordan out of the 1948 war…
Netanyahu has served as the Likud leader for all but six years since 1993. He is Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, holding the office from 1996 to 1999, 2009 to June 2021, and December 2022 to…
Though he expressed antisemitic views in private, Nixon as the 37th U.S. president authorized the airlift that replenished Israel’s arms during the October 1973 war, providing the means for Israel to end the war with…
