Aharon Zisling

Aharon Zisling was born in 1901 in Minsk Governorate

Zisling was born in 1901 on a farm estate in Minsk Governorate, in the Russian Empire, to Tzvi Menakhem and Esther Zisling. His father was a rabbi and helped found the Great Synagogue of Tel Aviv. In 1914 he moved to Palestine with his family, as part of the Second Aliyah.

He studied at the Tachkemoni school in Tel Aviv and at the Herzliya Gymnasium. In 1920 he helped found a workers' group and worked on building the Afula to Nazareth road. In 1923 he was among the founders of Kibbutz Ein Harod, where he remained a member for the rest of his life.

Zisling was active in the Haganah and sat on its national command. He was a founder of Ahdut HaAvoda and later moved with it to Mapam. He helped draft the Declaration of Independence and served as Minister of Agriculture in the provisional government, where he criticized Ben-Gurion's policies toward Palestinian Arabs.

He was elected to the first Knesset in 1949 but left the cabinet when Mapam stayed out of the coalition. He was reelected in 1951 and joined the group that left Mapam to restore Ahdut HaAvoda. He lost his seat in 1955, died in 1964 and was buried at Ein Harod.