12 Facts About Berl Katznelson

Berl Katznelson was one of the intellectual founders of Labor Zionism and was instrumental to the establishment of the modern state of Israel.

Berl Katznelson was the editor of Davar, the first daily newspaper of the Histadrut.

Berl Katznelson dreamed of settling in the Jewish homeland from an early age.

Together with his cousin, Yitzhak Tabenkin, Berl Katznelson was one of the founding fathers of the workers union, the Histadrut founded in 1920 in Mandatory Palestine and then part of the Yishuv.

Berl Katznelson was released from the army in 1920 and resumed his activities in the Labor Zionist movement.

Berl Katznelson helped to establish the Clalit Health Services sick fund, a major fixture in Israel's network of socialized medicine.

In 1925, together with Moshe Beilinson, Berl Katznelson established the Davar daily newspaper, and became its first editor, a position he held until his death, as well as becoming the founder and first editor-in-chief of the Am Oved publishing house.

Berl Katznelson was well known for his desire for peaceful coexistence between Arabs and Jews in Mandatory Palestine.

Berl Katznelson was an outspoken opponent of the Peel Commission's partition plan for Palestine.

Berl Katznelson died of an aneurysm in 1944 and was buried at his request in the cemetery on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, next to Sarah Shmukler.

Berl Katznelson was small, his hair was always untidy, his clothes always looked rumpled.

Not that he held court or ever gave orders, but nothing was done, no decision of any importance to the Labour movement in particular or the yishuv in general, was taken without Berl Katznelson's opinion being sought first.