Yossi Harel
{{Short description|Israeli intelligence officer (1918–2008)}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Yossi Harel
| native_name = יוסי הראל
| native_name_lang = he
| image = PikiWiki Israel 28618 Art of Israel.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption = Harel in c. 2004
| birth_name = Yossi Hamburger
| birth_date = January 4, 1918
| birth_place = Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine
| death_date = April 26, 2008 (aged 90)
| death_place = Tel Aviv, Israel
| resting_place = Kibbutz Sdot Yam, near Caesarea
| nationality =
| other_names =
| education = MIT
| occupation = Intelligence officer
| known_for = Commander of the Exodus 1947
| spouse = Esther Vaisch (first wife), Julie Berez (second wife)
| children = 3
| awards = Exodus Prize (2007)
}}
Yossi Harel ({{langx|he|יוסי הראל}}; January 4, 1918 – April 26, 2008) was the commander of the {{ship||Exodus 1947||2}} operation and a leading member of the Israeli intelligence community.{{cite news|access-date=2008-04-27|url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/978096.html|title=Yossi Harel, commander of Exodus, dies at 90|author=Ashkenazi, Eli|work=Haaretz|date=April 27, 2008|archive-date=2008-06-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080601224018/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/978096.html|url-status=dead}}
Biography
Yossi Hamburger (later Harel) and his twin brother Natan were born in Jerusalem to Moshe and Batya Hamburger. He was a sixth generation Jerusalemite. He attended Tachkemoni School and as a teenager, worked in a quarry and laid telegraph cables for the post office.{{Cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/.premium-2008-yossi-harel-of-aliyah-bet-dies-1.5354955|title=2008: Yossi Harel, the Real Person Behind Paul Newman's Ari Ben-Canaan, Dies|first=David B.|last=Green|date=April 26, 2015|newspaper=Haaretz}} At the age of 15, he joined the Haganah.
Harel's first marriage was to Esther Vaisch and they had one daughter, Nurit. In 1951 he married Julie Berez with whom he had two children, Sharon and David. His daughter, Sharon Harel, is the third wife of Sir Ronald Cohen.{{cite news|last1=Joffe|first1=Lawrence|title=Yossi Harel|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/apr/29/israelandthepalestinians.obituary|access-date=5 November 2015|work=The Guardian|date=29 April 2008}}
Harel died of a heart attack in Tel Aviv on April 26, 2008, at the age of 90. He is buried at Kibbutz Sdot Yam, near Cesarea."Final Exodus: Yossi Harel", Dateline World Jewry, World Jewish Congress, July/August 2008
Military and intelligence career
Harel fought under Orde Wingate. Between 1945 and 1948, he played a leading role in the clandestine immigration enterprise in Palestine, commanding four Aliyah Bet ships: Knesset Israel, the Exodus 1947, Atzma'ut and Kibbutz Galuyot. After the establishment of the State of Israel, Harel studied mechanical engineering at MIT in the United States. Just before he finished his studies, Moshe Dayan, as Chief of Staff, called him back to Israel to investigate the Lavon Affair and made him head of Unit 131, an Israel Defense Forces intelligence unit.
Legacy and commemoration
Harel is the subject of a biography in Hebrew by Yoram Kaniuk, Exodus: The Odyssey of a Commander (1999), which has been translated into many languages.{{cite web|url=http://www.ithl.org.il/book_info.asp?id%3D656 |title=Hebrew Literature_Books |access-date=April 26, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080502174937/http://www.ithl.org.il/book_info.asp?id=656 |archive-date=May 2, 2008 }} Profile of Kaniuk biography He rose to fame after the release of the 1960 Otto Preminger film Exodus, which was based on the 1958 Leon Uris novel of the same name. His character in the novel, Ari Ben Canaan, was portrayed by Paul Newman.{{cite news|access-date=2008-04-27
|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3536055,00.html
|title=Yossi Harel, who commanded Jewish refugee ship Exodus in 1947, dies in Tel Aviv
|author=Leker, Maya
|date=April 26, 2008
|publisher=Ynetnews}}
In 2007 the government of Italy awarded the Exodus prize to Harel. The prize is given annually to individuals who promote peace and humanitarianism at La Spezia in Italy, where the ship Exodus 1947 was renovated.Yossi Harel, 90, Commanded Historic Refugee Ship, By The Daily Telegraph, April 29, 2008
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.gyaszhir.hu/Temak-yossi-harel-55.html Yossi Harel Hungarian Tribute]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20100523115243/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article3841190.ece Obituary: Times]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harel, Yossi}}
Category:People from Jerusalem
Category:British Army personnel of World War II
Category:British military personnel of the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine
Category:Israeli military personnel of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War
Category:Mandatory Palestine military personnel of World War II