Aran, Zalman

Zalman Aronovich was born in Yuzovka in the Ekaterinoslav province of the Russian Empire (now Donetsk region, Ukraine) and received a religious education in a heder. He later studied agriculture in Kharkov. In his youth, he took part in the Hovevei Zion movement , and in 1917 became a member of the "Self-Defense Organizational Committee" of the movement. He worked as a teacher and statistician from 1918 to 1923, in 1920, after the split of the party, he joined the Zionist Socialist pariah and was a member of its secret Central Committee from 1924 to 1925.

In 1926, he emigrated to Palestine , where he joined the party of Ahdut Havod . He worked in construction and road construction. In 1930, after the merger of Ahdut ha-Awoda with the Mapai party , he was appointed Secretary General of the new party in Tel Aviv. From 1936 to 1947 he worked on the Executive Committee of the Histadrut as Treasurer and Director of the Information Department and was one of the founders of the Histadrut activist school. He also became a member of the Zionist Executive Committee in 1946 and a member of its Presidium in 1948.

In 1949, he was elected to the Knesset, and was re-elected in 1951 , 1955 , 1959 , 1961, and 1965 . He headed the committee of foreign affairs and defense, and was also a member of the committee of the House of Representatives. In 1953, he was appointed Minister without a portfolio , and in 1954, Minister of Transport. From 1955 to 1960 and again from 1963 to 1969 he was Minister of Education and Culture.

As the Minister of Education of Israel, he introduced Jewish educational programs and Jewish tradition into educational institutions, and helped expand technical education. In 1955, the Knesset adopted its reform program for the Israeli education system and its requirements for a secondary education diploma, as well as the expansion of the Compulsory Education Act in Israel from 14 to 16 years old. He also facilitated the integration of children from different walks of life into the same schools in order to accelerate Israel’s “melting pot” and reduce socio-economic gaps in Israeli society, including by creating recreational activities for residents of development cities .

As a minister in the 1967 government, he initially supported a majority position whose goal was a diplomatic solution to Egypt’s closure of the Tiran Strait , rather than a preemptive strike, which in his opinion represented a great danger to the rear and the Israeli Air Force. He also opposed the occupation of East Jerusalem .

He died in 1970. The School of History of Tel Aviv University and the Central Library of Ben Gurion University in the Negev as well as several schools in Israel were named after him.

• on the Knesset website