Yaacov Pat
{{Short description|Commander of the Haganah in Mandatory Palestine}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Yaacov Pat
| native_name = יעקב פת
| native_name_lang = he
| image =
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = 1894
| birth_place =
| death_date = {{death date and age|1956|1894}}
| death_place =
| nationality = Israeli
| occupation = Haganah Commander in Mandatory Palestine; Director of the Special Tasks Department in the Ministry of Defense
| known_for = Haganah leadership
| office = Director of the Special Tasks Department in the Ministry of Defense
| term_start = 1948
| term_end = 1956
}}
Yaacov Pat ({{langx|he|יעקב פת}}; 1894-1956) (also Yaakov Patt) was a commander of the Haganah in Mandatory Palestine.{{cite web |title=Personalities |url=https://www.irgon-haagana.co.il/show_item.asp?levelid=61006&itemid=50577&itemtype=3&prm=t=4 |website=Irgon HaHagana |access-date=July 28, 2024}}
Pat was a member of Hashomer, a Jewish defense organization in Ottoman Palestine, and served in the first Hebrew regiments during World War I. In 1931, under David Ben-Gurion's direction, he rebuilt the Jerusalem branch of the Haganah, focusing on recruitment and training. Pat also helped establish a branch of Magen David Adom in Jerusalem.
After the establishment of the State of Israel, Pat served as the director of the Special Tasks Department in the Israel Ministry of Defense. He married Tzipora Finkelstein, and they had two daughters.
Career
File:יעקב פת מקבוצת קלנדיה הראשונה 1913-1 חריש ראשון באדמת עטרות - iמושב עט btm4333.jpeg, first Kalandiya group, 1913.]]
Yaacov Pat was a member of Hashomer, a Jewish defense organization formed in Ottoman Palestine in 1909. Together with Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, later President of Israel, he served in the first Hebrew regiments in World War I.{{cite web|url=http://www.universityarchives.com/Find-an-Item/Results-List/Item-Detail.aspx?ItemID=50795 |title=Ben Zvi fondly remembers a deceased fellow member of Hashomer and Haganah in this TLS signed while President of Israel |publisher=Universityarchives.com |date=1958-02-09 |access-date=2013-12-05}}
= Rebuilding the Haganah in Jerusalem =
In 1931, Yaacov Pat was sent to Jerusalem by David Ben-Gurion to rebuild the local branch of the Haganah, a Jewish militia.{{cite web|url={{Google books |id=S9Fm_AQi0k8C |page=246 |plainurl=yes }} |title=American Jewish women and the Zionist enterprise |first=Shulamit |last=Reinharz |first2=Mark A. |last2=Raider |publisher=UPNE |year=2005 |access-date=2013-12-05}} Pat was in charge of recruiting men, while Rachel Yanait Ben-Zvi was responsible for the enlistment of women.{{cite web|url=http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/haganah |title=Jewish Women's Archive: Haganah |publisher=Jwa.org |access-date=2013-12-05}}
Pat's efforts to recruit and train new manpower succeeded, but no funding was available for weapons. Rose Vitales, who worked for the Va'ad HaKehilla Community Council of Jerusalem, convinced Pat that she could organize a fundraising campaign. Soliciting from a screened list of donors, the drive increased the income of the organization from 40 Palestine pounds a month (approximately $160) to 1,000 Palestine pounds per month. This money was used to purchase arms for defending Jerusalem during the 1936 Arab revolt.
= Establishing Magen David Adom in Jerusalem =
With the help of Rose Vitales, Pat also pushed for the establishment of a branch of Magen David Adom in Jerusalem, which existed at the time only in Haifa. By 1936, that branch was functioning.
= Later career =
Upon the establishment of the State of Israel, Yaacov served as the director of the Special Tasks Department in the Ministry of Defense.
Personal life
Yaacov married Tzipora, daughter of Moshe Finkelstein (born in 1902 in Essex, England), whom he met while serving in the Hebrew Battalion and she worked as a nurse at the Scottish Hospital in Tiberias. The couple had two daughters. Yaacov died from a heart attack in 1956 and was laid to rest in the Hashomer section of the Kfar Giladi cemetery.{{cite news |title=Lieutenant Colonel Yaacov Pat is no more |url= |newspaper=LaMerhav |date=1956-06-27 |page=66}}{{cite news |title=Lieutenant Colonel Yaacov Pat has died |url= |newspaper=Haaretz |date=1956-06-27 |page=76}}{{cite news |title=Yaacov Pat |url= |newspaper=Davar |date=1956-06-27 |page=16}}{{cite news |title=Lt. Col. Yaacov Pat laid to rest |url= |newspaper=Davar |date=1956-06-28 |page=86}} His wife Tzipora died in 1960 and was buried next to him.
Commemoration
File:Pat Jerusalem 10-2007.JPG neighbourhood in Jerusalem: Goren-Goldstein Park and the Hebrew-Arabic School]]
The Pat neighborhood in Jerusalem is named for Yaacov Pat.