Early years Levi Eshkol (Shkolnik) was born in the
shtetl of
Oratov,
Lipovetsky Uyezd,
Kiev Governorate,
Russian Empire (now
Orativ,
Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukraine). Both his parents were
Jewish, although his mother Dvora (née Krasnyanskaya) came from a
Hasidic background, whereas his father Joseph Shkolnik came from a family of
Mitnagdim. Both families were business-oriented and were owners of agricultural businesses including flour mills, industrial plants and forestry associated businesses. Eshkol received a traditional Jewish education from the age of four and began
Talmud studies at the age of seven. In addition to his
Heder studies, Eshkol was taught by private tutors in general education. In 1911 he was accepted for studies at the Jewish gymnasium in Vilna (now
Vilnius, Lithuania) and left his hometown and his family. In Vilna, Eshkol joined the students' association
Zeiri Zion (Youth of Zion) and began his connections with the
Zionist movement. He was elected to the local executive committee and, in 1913, joined
Hapoel Hatzair following his meeting with party leader
Joseph Shprinzak.
Public activity 1914–37 In 1914, he left for
Palestine, then part of the
Ottoman Empire. He first settled in
Petah Tikva and worked in the setting of
irrigation tunnels at the local orchards. In later years he would be recalled as an excelling worker during this period of time. Eshkol also quickly became publicly active and was elected as a member of the local workers' union. However he soon thereafter left Petah Tikva, joining a small group that was set to settle the area of
Atarot (Kalandia). At the outbreak of
World War I, fearing local hostility, his group settled briefly in
Kfar Uria,
Rishon LeZion and returning to Petah Tikva. In 1915–17 he was a leading member of the
Judea Workers' Union. In 1918, he volunteered with the
Jewish Legion and served in it until the summer of 1920. In September 1920, Eshkol was among the 25 founders of
Kibbutz Degania Bet, making it his permanent residence. However, his public activity had grown and he was often sent on various missions. In 1920, he was among the founders of
Histadrut. He was also one of the founders of the
Haganah. He was a member of the Haganah's first national high command (1920–21). As a delegate of Histadrut, he was an international representative in various gatherings and was tasked with organization of the "Agriculture Workers' Union". In 1929 he was a delegate for the first time to the
Zionist Congress and was elected to the Zionist Executive, which made him an acting member of the executive in the newly formed
Jewish Agency. Between 1933 and 1934, Eshkol was working in
Berlin on behalf of the
Zionist Organization and
HeHalutz youth movement. During this time he negotiated with the German authorities over what became known as the
Haavara Agreement. Upon his return to Palestine in 1934, he was appointed director of Nir company, which provided funds to new agricultural settlements.
Director of Mekorot Eshkol lobbied for a national water company from
circa 1930, presenting budget plans before the
World Zionist Organization in 1933 and 1935. The formation of
Mekorot water company was made possible in February 1937 under joint management of the Jewish Agency, Histadrut and the
Jewish National Fund. Eshkol served as its director until 1951, overseeing its expansion in 1938 from agricultural territories to residential areas and the construction of the first water lines to the southern
Negev area as early as 1941. By 1947, more than 200 kilometers of water lines were active.
Political and military activity 1940–49 in 1949 Eshkol returned to serve in the Haganah high command from 1940 to 1948 and was in charge of the organization's treasury. He engaged in arms acquisition for the Haganah prior to and during the
1948 Arab–Israeli War. Between 1942 and 1944, Eshkol served as Secretary General of Mapai. During the
Second World War Eshkol advocated for Jewish enrollment to the
British military. However, he confirmed with the
Yishuv's leadership and later joined the ideology asserting differentiation between the global front and the local front, fighting against the
British Mandate. In 1945–46 Eshkol was representative of Haganah in the leadership of the
Jewish Resistance Movement. In 1944 he was appointed as the Secretary General of
Tel Aviv Workers' Council, remaining in this position until 1948. In 1947 Eshkol was appointed as a member of the two major defense forums: The
Negev Committee that oversaw the administration of the Negev prior to the declaration of independence of Israel, as well as the general Defense Committee of the Yishuv's leadership. Later that year, he was appointed by David Ben-Gurion to head the national recruitment center, which laid foundations to the formation of
Israel Defense Forces upon independence of the State of Israel, in May 1948, at which point Eshkol was appointed Director-General of the Ministry of Defense, serving from May 1948 to January 1949.
Rise to national political career During the time of mass immigration to the State of Israel (1949–1950), Eshkol headed the Settlement Department in the
Jewish Agency, where he first proposed the idea of settling a good number of these immigrants upon newly founded agricultural farms, in order to solve their housing dilemma. He is noted as saying, "We didn't know exactly what to do with these Jews. Then we interjected from the counsels of our heart, and from the experience that we had amassed thus far, and said: A desolate country, a desolate people; these two things must cause one another to blossom. From this, the idea was born to launch an extensive agricultural settlement operation and absorb a large part of the immigrants." Eshkol was elected to the
Knesset in 1951 as a member of
Mapai party. He served as
Minister of Agriculture until 1952. In the
1959 legislative election, Eshkol coordinated Mapai's national campaign with the local party branches. He was also appointed as chairman of the party's committee on social affairs. As internal party tension was growing due to the
Lavon Affair, Eshkol was asked to serve as an arbitrator. In 1961, Ben-Gurion asked to retire as prime minister and recommended Eshkol as his successor. However, Mapai made Ben-Gurion stay. Ben-Gurion continued to lead Mapai in the
1961 legislative election but struggled to form a coalition and relied on Eshkol's negotiations with rival parties.
Minister of Finance (left), New York State Comptroller (1959) Following the death of
Eliezer Kaplan he was appointed
Finance Minister and held that position for the following 12 years. During these years, he helped form the ministry of finance, establishing the Budgets Directorate and other bodies. In 1954 he completed legislation for the establishment of the
Bank of Israel. Eshkol oversaw the implementation of Kaplan's 1952 economic plan, as well as realizing the
Reparations Agreement between Israel and West Germany, which was towards its final stages of negotiation and signed in September 1952. In 1957 he began talks with the
European Economic Community towards integration of Israel in its market, ultimately achieved in 1964 with the signing of the first commercial agreement between the two entities. In 1962 Eshkol introduced a new economic plan.
Party chairmanship During his term as finance minister, Eshkol established himself as a prominent figure in Mapai's leadership, and was designated by Prime Minister
David Ben-Gurion as his successor. When Ben-Gurion resigned in June 1963, Eshkol was elected party chairman with a broad consensus and was subsequently appointed prime minister. However, his relationship with Ben-Gurion soon turned acrimonious over the latter's insistence on investigating the
Lavon Affair, an Israeli covert operation in
Egypt, which had gone wrong a decade earlier. Ben-Gurion was unsuccessful in challenging Eshkol's leadership in the
1965 Mapai leadership election and split from Mapai with a few of his young protégés to form
Rafi in June 1965. In the meantime, Mapai merged with
Ahdut HaAvoda to form the
Alignment with Eshkol as its head. Rafi was defeated by the Alignment in the
elections held in November 1965, establishing Eshkol as the country's indisputable leader. Yet Ben-Gurion, drawing on his influence as Israel's founding father, continued to undermine Eshkol's authority throughout his term as prime minister, portraying him as a spineless politician incapable of addressing Israel's security predicament. As party chairman, Eshkol formed the basis for the
Alignment in 1964, the formation of the unified
Israel Labor Party in 1968 and the joining of forces with
Mapam to create the second alignment in 1969.
Prime minister in Jerusalem on August 2, 1966. Eshkol formed Israel's twelfth government in 1963. His first term in office saw continuous economic growth, epitomized by the opening of the
National Water Carrier system in 1964. He and Finance Minister
Pinchas Sapir's subsequent "soft landing" of the overheated economy by means of
recessive policies precipitated a drastic slump in economic activity. Israel's centralized
planned economy lacked the mechanisms to self-regulate the slowdown, which reached levels higher than expected. Eshkol faced growing domestic unrest as unemployment reached 12% in 1966, yet the recession eventually served in healing fundamental economic deficiencies and helped fuel the ensuing recovery of 1967–1973. Upon being elected into office, Levi Eshkol fulfilled
Ze'ev Jabotinsky's wish and brought his body and that of his wife to Israel where they were buried in
Mount Herzl Cemetery.
Foreign relations during a visit to
Uganda in 1966 During his first months as premier, Eshkol was engaged in a now-declassified diplomatic standoff with the United States that had begun in 1960 under Ben-Gurion. Eshkol worked to improve
Israel's foreign relations by establishing diplomatic relations with
West Germany in 1965, as well as cultural ties with the
Soviet Union, which also allowed some
Soviet Jews to
immigrate to Israel. He was the first Israeli Prime Minister invited on an official state visit to the United States in May 1964. With Johnson's administration also represented in this case by national security aide
Robert W. Komer and others, Eshkol signed what became known as the Eshkol-Comer (
sic) memorandum of understanding (MOU) about
Israeli nuclear capabilities. The 10 March 1965 MOU, which has been variously interpreted since, stated, 'Israel would not be the first country to "introduce" nuclear weapons to the Middle East'.
Six-Day War visiting Israeli troops in Sinai shortly after the Six-Day War The special relationship he developed with Johnson would prove pivotal in securing US political and military support for Israel during the "
Waiting period" before the
Six-Day War of June 1967. According to
Michael Oren, Eshkol's intransigence in the face of military pressure to launch an Israeli attack is considered to have been instrumental in increasing Israel's strategic advantage and obtaining international legitimacy, but at the time, he was perceived as hesitant, an image cemented after a stuttered radio speech on 28 May. Egyptian President
Nasser's ever-increasing provocations created diplomatic support for Israel. Eshkol eventually established a
National Unity Government, together with
Menachem Begin's
Herut party, and conceded the Defense portfolio to
Moshe Dayan.
Death and funeral In the year following the war, Eshkol's health gradually declined, although he remained in power. He suffered a heart attack on 3 February 1969 from which he recovered and gradually returned to his work, maintaining meetings from the Prime Minister's official residence. In the early morning of 26 February he suffered a fatal heart attack. At his side were his wife and three physicians, including
Moshe Rachmilewitz. He died in office, at the age of 73. Eshkol was laid to rest on 28 February at
Mount Herzl and was the first prime minister interred at the
Great Leaders of the Nation Plot. He was the first of either presidents and prime ministers of Israel to be buried at the plot, preceded only by
Eliezer Kaplan and
Yosef Sprinzak. Eshkol expressed his wishes to be buried at his Kibbutz,
Deganya Bet. However, upon his passing a government meeting was convened in which the ministers expressed their support in his burial in Jerusalem. This decision was not only symbolic in its nature (following the
Six-Day War), but also supported by the winter season and difficulty of performing a state funeral at the
Jordan Valley as well as the
War of Attrition and possible security risk at shelling aimed towards the Deganya Bet region. The government's offer was approved later that day by the Eshkol family. A second government meeting that day declared two days of national mourning, until after the state funeral. Flags across the country were brought to half mast. Eshkol's body remained at the Prime Minister's residence in a symbolic
lie in state, with an honor guard of the
Israeli Police. On 27 February at 6:00, he was moved to the
Knesset plaza, open to the public passing before the casket. An official state ceremony attended by dignitaries and international delegates was held in the Knesset plaza on 28 February, prior to the funeral procession to Mount Herzl. ==Personal life==