Eliezer Peri

Eliezer Peri was born in 1902 in Surochów

Peri was born Eliezer Wilder-Frei in the village of Surochów, near Jarosław, in Galicia. He moved to Lviv, helped found its Jewish high school and was among its first graduates. He joined Hashomer Hatzair, sat on its leadership and became its secretary in 1920.

From 1922 to 1925 he studied law and humanities. During that time he helped found the World Federation of Hashomer Hatzair in 1924.

He moved to Mandatory Palestine in 1926 and worked in swamp draining and at the Haifa port. He was a founder of HaKibbutz HaArtzi and an early member of kibbutz Merhavia from 1929. He served on the Histadrut council and executive committee from 1933 to 1949.

In 1943 he helped found the Mishmar newspaper, later Al HaMishmar, and served as one of its editors. As editor he received soldiers' letters about killings of civilians in 1948, which led to an official inquiry. He helped found Mapam in 1948 and represented it in the first and second Knessets.

He lost his seat in 1955 and led the party's left wing with Ya'akov Riftin. In 1969 he left Mapam over its alliance with the Labor Party and helped found a new left faction. He died in 1970, and a Petah Tikva neighborhood was named for him in 1980.