Avraham Ofer
Encyclopedia
Avraham Ofer was an Israeli politician, famous for committing suicide following the eruption of a corruption scandal.
in Poland
(today in Ukraine
) in 1922, and immigrated
to Mandate Palestine in 1933. He went to High School in Jerusalem and studied in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
. In 1937 he joined the Haganah
and in 1942 he was among the founders of Kibbutz
Hamadia
. In 1944 he was one of the founders of the Young Leadership in Mapai
and among of founders and first Director of HaKfar HaYarok
.
In the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
he served in the Israeli Navy as Lieutenant Colonel, and was the first commander of the Eilat Naval Base. In 1952 he was elected Secretary of Mapai in Tel Aviv District
. In 1958 he joined the Agriculture Ministry, established the Poultry Council and became Deputy Director General for Economic Affairs. In 1964 he was a member of the delegation that conducted negotiations with the European Community and at the end of that year he was appointed General Manager of "Ashdod Company". In 1965 he was elected to the Tel Aviv
City Council and was Deputy Mayor of Tel Aviv from until 1967, when he was appointed Managing Director of "Shikun Ovdim".
In 1969 he was elected to the 7th Knesset
for the Alignment
. He is known for his amendment to the election law, initiated along with Gahal
's Yohanan Bader
, which adapted the D'Hondt method
, effective since the 8th Knesset
. In 1973 he was appointed Minister of Housing
by Yitzhak Rabin
.
who had also been involved in airing the charges against Asher Yadlin, gave the police information on 30 different matters raising suspicions of offenses committed by Ofer, including allegations of embezzlement in Shikun Ovdim funds in favor of the party. The police examined Laviv's charges, but came to the conclusion toward the end of the year that they were not substantiated, leading Ofer to expect that an official statement clearing him would soon be made. However, Attorney General Aharon Barak
decided to continue with the investigation based on a new testimony.
On 31 December, however, a witness in the Yadlin affair
sent the police a statement which raised more questions for investigation, and various rumors were published about possible charges. On 2 January, Prime Minister Rabin and Justice Minister Zadok assured Ofer that everything possible would be done to expedite the inquiry.
could be seen as a farce, Ofer's story ended in tragedy. On January 3, his body was found in his car on a Tel Aviv beach. In a suicide note Ofer said he was innocent, but did not have the strength "to bear any more." He was reported to have been particularly depressed by the lack of support from his political associates.
Rabin delivered the eulogy at Ofer's funeral. Speaking to the country's political elite at a crowded service in Tel Aviv, Rabin recalled how Ofer had come to him to discuss the accusations in what turned out to be their final meeting. "Your words still ring in my ears," the Premier said. ' 'Yitzhak,' you told me, 'believe me, I am not guilty of any transgressions.' I replied to you, Avraham, that I, Yitzhak Rabin, wholly trust in your innocence."
The succession of scandals led Rabin's opponents to charge that he lacks the ability to lead, and in the 1977 elections
the Alignment
indeed lost. After his death, the charges were dropped and Ofer's guilt was never proven. Today, his suicide is often seen as a display of civil servant shame that is sadly missing in contemporary Israeli politicians.
Biography
Ofer was born in the Khorostkov shtetlShtetl
A shtetl was typically a small town with a large Jewish population in Central and Eastern Europe until The Holocaust. Shtetls were mainly found in the areas which constituted the 19th century Pale of Settlement in the Russian Empire, the Congress Kingdom of Poland, Galicia and Romania...
in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
(today in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
) in 1922, and immigrated
Aliyah
Aliyah is the immigration of Jews to the Land of Israel . It is a basic tenet of Zionist ideology. The opposite action, emigration from Israel, is referred to as yerida . The return to the Holy Land has been a Jewish aspiration since the Babylonian exile...
to Mandate Palestine in 1933. He went to High School in Jerusalem and studied in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...
. In 1937 he joined the Haganah
Haganah
Haganah was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces.- Origins :...
and in 1942 he was among the founders of Kibbutz
Kibbutz
A kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism...
Hamadia
Hamadia
Hamadia is a kibbutz in the Beit She'an Valley, just north of Beit She'an in northern Israel. It belongs to the Valley of Springs Regional Council.The kibbutz was first founded in 1939 as part of the Tower and stockade movement, but it was abandoned...
. In 1944 he was one of the founders of the Young Leadership in Mapai
Mapai
Mapai was a left-wing political party in Israel, and was the dominant force in Israeli politics until its merger into the Israeli Labor Party in 1968...
and among of founders and first Director of HaKfar HaYarok
Hakfar Hayarok
HaKfar HaYarok is a youth village in Israel, located at the south of Ramat HaSharon. It is one of the biggest youth villages in the country.-History:...
.
In the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
1948 Arab-Israeli War
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...
he served in the Israeli Navy as Lieutenant Colonel, and was the first commander of the Eilat Naval Base. In 1952 he was elected Secretary of Mapai in Tel Aviv District
Tel Aviv District
The Tel Aviv District is the smallest and most densely populated of six administrative districts of Israel with a population of 1.2 million residents...
. In 1958 he joined the Agriculture Ministry, established the Poultry Council and became Deputy Director General for Economic Affairs. In 1964 he was a member of the delegation that conducted negotiations with the European Community and at the end of that year he was appointed General Manager of "Ashdod Company". In 1965 he was elected to the Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
City Council and was Deputy Mayor of Tel Aviv from until 1967, when he was appointed Managing Director of "Shikun Ovdim".
In 1969 he was elected to the 7th Knesset
Israeli legislative election, 1969
Elections for the seventh Knesset were held in Israel on 28 October 1969. Voter turnout was 81.7%.-Results:¹ Meir Avizohar defected from the National List to the Alignment² Avner Shaki left the National Religious Party and remained a single MK...
for the Alignment
Alignment (political party)
The Alignment was an alliance of the major left-wing parties in Israel between the 1960s and 1990s. It was established in 1965 as an alliance of Mapai and Ahdut HaAvoda but was dissolved three years later when the two parties and Rafi formally merged into the Israeli Labor Party...
. He is known for his amendment to the election law, initiated along with Gahal
Gahal
Gahal , lit. Herut-Liberals Bloc) was the major right-wing political faction in Israel led by Menachem Begin from its founding in 1965 until it merged into Likud in 1973.-Background:...
's Yohanan Bader
Yohanan Bader
Yohanan Bader was a Revisionist Zionist leader and Israeli politician.-Biography:Bader was born in Kraków in Austria-Hungary , where he studied at a State Gymnasium. In his youth he was active in the Jewish Socialist Party, the "Bund" followed by "HaShomer Hatzair" but in 1925 he joined the...
, which adapted the D'Hondt method
D'Hondt method
The d'Hondt method is a highest averages method for allocating seats in party-list proportional representation. The method described is named after Belgian mathematician Victor D'Hondt who described it in 1878...
, effective since the 8th Knesset
Israeli legislative election, 1973
The Elections for the eighth Knesset were held on 31 December 1973. Voter turnout was 78.6%.-Results:1 Aryeh Eliav left the Alignment and merged with Ratz to form Ya'ad - Civil Rights Movement...
. In 1973 he was appointed Minister of Housing
Housing and Construction Minister of Israel
The Ministry of Housing and Construction is a portfolio in the Israeli cabinet. The ministry was created in 1961, and until 1977 it was known as the Ministry of Housing. Construction was also previously part of the Labour and Construction ministry during the provisional government between 1948 and...
by Yitzhak Rabin
Yitzhak Rabin
' was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77 and 1992 until his assassination in 1995....
.
The scandal
In November 1976, Yigal Laviv, a correspondent of the weekly Haolam HazehHaolam Hazeh
HaOlam HaZeh was a weekly news magazine published in Israel until 1993.The magazine was founded in 1937 under the name Tesha BaErev but was renamed HaOlam HaZeh in 1946...
who had also been involved in airing the charges against Asher Yadlin, gave the police information on 30 different matters raising suspicions of offenses committed by Ofer, including allegations of embezzlement in Shikun Ovdim funds in favor of the party. The police examined Laviv's charges, but came to the conclusion toward the end of the year that they were not substantiated, leading Ofer to expect that an official statement clearing him would soon be made. However, Attorney General Aharon Barak
Aharon Barak
Aharon Barak is a Professor of Law at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya and a lecturer in law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Yale Law School, and the University of Toronto Faculty of Law....
decided to continue with the investigation based on a new testimony.
On 31 December, however, a witness in the Yadlin affair
Yadlin affair
The Yadlin Affair refers to a political corruption scandal that broke in Israel in 1976, involving senior members of the Labor Party...
sent the police a statement which raised more questions for investigation, and various rumors were published about possible charges. On 2 January, Prime Minister Rabin and Justice Minister Zadok assured Ofer that everything possible would be done to expedite the inquiry.
Suicide
If the Yadlin affairYadlin affair
The Yadlin Affair refers to a political corruption scandal that broke in Israel in 1976, involving senior members of the Labor Party...
could be seen as a farce, Ofer's story ended in tragedy. On January 3, his body was found in his car on a Tel Aviv beach. In a suicide note Ofer said he was innocent, but did not have the strength "to bear any more." He was reported to have been particularly depressed by the lack of support from his political associates.
Rabin delivered the eulogy at Ofer's funeral. Speaking to the country's political elite at a crowded service in Tel Aviv, Rabin recalled how Ofer had come to him to discuss the accusations in what turned out to be their final meeting. "Your words still ring in my ears," the Premier said. ' 'Yitzhak,' you told me, 'believe me, I am not guilty of any transgressions.' I replied to you, Avraham, that I, Yitzhak Rabin, wholly trust in your innocence."
The succession of scandals led Rabin's opponents to charge that he lacks the ability to lead, and in the 1977 elections
Israeli legislative election, 1977
The Elections for the ninth Knesset were held on 17 May 1977. For the first time in Israeli political history, the right-wing, led by Likud, won the election, ending almost 30 years of rule by the left-wing Alignment and its predecessor, Mapai...
the Alignment
Alignment (political party)
The Alignment was an alliance of the major left-wing parties in Israel between the 1960s and 1990s. It was established in 1965 as an alliance of Mapai and Ahdut HaAvoda but was dissolved three years later when the two parties and Rafi formally merged into the Israeli Labor Party...
indeed lost. After his death, the charges were dropped and Ofer's guilt was never proven. Today, his suicide is often seen as a display of civil servant shame that is sadly missing in contemporary Israeli politicians.