Aryeh Altman

Aryeh Altman was born in 1902 in Balta

Altman was born in 1902 in Balta, in the Russian Empire. He studied law and economics at Odessa University. In 1921 he joined Tze'irei Zion and chaired it until 1924, and after three arrests by the Soviet authorities he was sent into exile.

He moved to the Land of Israel in 1925 and was among the founders of the Working Zionists Organization. In 1927 he went to the United States to study sociology and political science in Detroit and New York. He received a PhD from New York University in 1935.

He joined the Revisionist movement in 1928 and was elected its head in America in 1931. After returning in 1935 he led the movement in the Land of Israel, sat on the Jewish National Council, and after Jabotinsky's death in 1940 headed its political department. In 1943 he went to Turkey on a mission to rescue European Jews, and in 1945 he became chairman of the movement's Presidium.

He headed the Brit Hatzohar list in the 1949 elections, but it did not pass the threshold. He then joined Herut and served in the Knesset from 1951 until he lost his seat in 1965. From 1955 to 1965 he was also a member of the Jerusalem city council.

Altman died in 1982 and was buried on the Mount of Olives. He was married to Tzipora and had a son and a daughter. Streets in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv bear his name.