Pinchas Rosen

Pinchas Rosen was born in 1887 in Berlin

Rosen was born Felix Rosenblüth in Berlin in 1887, into a family of 5 children. He grew up in Messingwerk Finow. He studied law at the universities of Freiburg and Berlin and qualified in 1908.

He served in the German army in World War I and was wounded in 1915 on the Eastern Front. He chaired the Zionist Federation of Germany from 1920 to 1923 and worked closely with Chaim Weizmann. He settled in the Land of Israel, worked as a lawyer and helped found the Central European Immigrants Association.

In 1942 he founded the New Aliyah Party, and in 1948 he signed the Declaration of Independence. He entered the Knesset in 1949 with the Progressive Party and served as Minister of Justice in 8 of Israel's first 9 governments. As minister he advanced the Judges Law, which moved the selection of judges to a committee.

In 1961 he helped found the Liberal Party. He opposed its merger into Gahal and led a breakaway that formed the Independent Liberals. He resigned from the Knesset in 1968, received the Israel Prize in 1973 and died in 1978. He was given a state funeral.