Politicsיוסף קושניר

Yosef Kushnir

Yosef Kushnir was an Israeli lawyer and politician who served as a Mapam member of the Knesset from 1960 to 1961 and from 1962 to 1965.

1900 to 1983Mapam member of the KnessetLeadership in Poale Zion LeftHaifa city council member

Born: 15 November 1900, Bender
Died: 6 January 1983, Haifa
Occupation: politician, lawyer
Party: United Workers Party
Education: Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Yosef Kushnir was born in 1900 in Bender

Yosef Kushnir was born on 15 November 1900 in Bender, Bessarabia, then part of the Russian Empire. He was active in the Tze'irei Zion organization. He moved to Palestine in 1922.

He studied at the Jerusalem Law School and was certified as a lawyer. He later chaired the Haifa branch of the lawyers' union.

Kushnir was one of the leaders of Poale Zion Left and was active in other Marxist groups. In 1945 he joined the Hashomer Hatzair Workers Party, which became part of Mapam in 1948. He sat on Mapam's central committee and the secretariat of its Haifa branch, and served on the Haifa city council from 1950 to 1955.

He ran on the Mapam list in 1959 but did not win a seat. He entered the Knesset in 1960 in place of Haim Yehuda, lost his seat in 1961, and returned in 1962 in place of Hanan Rubin. He served on the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee and lost his seat in 1965.

Kushnir died on 6 January 1983. A street in Haifa is named after him.