Joseph Almogi

Joseph Almogi was born in 1910 in Hrubieszów

Almogi was born Josef Karlenboim in Hrubieszów, then in the Russian Empire and today in Poland. He joined the Dror movement in 1924. After finishing high school he moved to the Land of Israel and worked in Petah Tikva and Kfar Saba.

He was a Haganah commander and in 1937 moved to Haifa, where he led the Haganah's Hapoel companies. In 1940 he volunteered for the British Army and served in Egypt, Libya and Greece. He was captured in Greece in 1941 and held by the Germans until 1945.

After the war he joined Mapai and became Secretary of the Haifa Workers Council. He was elected to the Knesset in 1955 and became General Secretary of Mapai. He served as Minister without Portfolio and from 1962 as Minister of Housing and Development.

In 1965 he left the government and joined David Ben-Gurion in founding Rafi. He became Minister of Labour in 1968 after Rafi joined the Alignment. He was mayor of Haifa from 1974 to 1975.

He then chaired the World Zionist Organization and headed the Jewish Agency Executive. He died in Haifa in 1991.