Jossi Harel
Jossi Harel (Hebrew יוסי הראל , born Josef Hamburger ; born January 4, 1918 in Jerusalem , † April 26, 2008 in Tel Aviv ) was a high-ranking officer of the Israeli foreign intelligence service Mossad .
Life
Harel was born in Jerusalem in 1918 . His ancestors had lived in the city for five generations. Harel joined the Hagana Underground Army at the age of 15. David Ben-Gurion valued his leadership skills and gave him command of the illegal immigrant ships after the Second World War .
Jossi Harel was the commander of the ship Exodus , which one year before the founding of the State of Israel brought more than 4,500 Holocaust survivors to the then League of Nations Mandate Palestine . At 27, Harel had already been in command of the most important immigrant ships, apart from the Exodus , these were the Knesset Israel , the Atzma'ut and the Kibbutz Galuiot . With these transports, Harel brought about 25,000 people to Palestine. The highlight of Harel's career, however, was the two and a half week trip with the Knesset Israel .
The special case of the illegal immigration ship Exodus brought about the decisive turning point in international opinion. After the British Navy had arrested the ship and the passengers were transported via France to Germany, where they were interned in two camps in Lübeck-Kücknitz , the case caused a worldwide sensation. As a result, the idea of founding a Jewish state of its own received more and more impetus in the world and finally led to Israel's declaration of independence on May 14, 1948.
In later years he studied in the USA; after that he worked under Moshe Dayan for the Israeli military intelligence service before becoming an entrepreneur. As an intelligence officer, he investigated the so-called Lawon affair .
Paul Newman played a character modeled after Harel in the 1960 Hollywood film Exodus .
Jossi Harel died of a heart attack in 2008.
Web links
- Exodus commander died at the age of 90 ( memento from February 11, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ), Financial Times Deutschland , April 27, 2008
- Yossi Harel, commander of Exodus, dies at 90 , Haaretz , Eli Ashkenazi, April 28, 2008
- Obituary , TimesOnline , April 30, 2008
Individual evidence
- ^ Yossi Harel, commander of Exodus, dies at 90 , Haaretz , Eli Ashkenazi, April 28, 2008
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Harel, Jossi |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Hamburger, Josef |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Israeli commander of the Exodus |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 4, 1918 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Jerusalem |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 26, 2008 |
| Place of death | Tel Aviv |