Yosef Serlin | |
|---|---|
יוסף סרלין | |
 | |
| Ministerial roles | |
| 1952 | Minister of Transportation |
| 1952–1955 | Minister of Health |
| Faction represented in theKnesset | |
| 1949–1961 | General Zionists |
| 1961–1965 | Liberal Party |
| 1965–1974 | Gahal |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 24 January 1906 Białystok,Russian Empire |
| Died | 15 January 1974(1974-01-15) (aged 67) |
Yosef Serlin (Hebrew:יוסף סרלין; 24 February 1906 – 15 January 1974) was aZionist activist, lawyer andIsraeli politician.
Serlin was born inBiałystok in theRussian Empire (now inPoland), where he attended a Hebrew High School. He studied law at theUniversity of Warsaw and was certified as a lawyer in 1929. He was active in the Zionist Movement in Poland and was chairman of the Federation of Academic Zionists inWarsaw. He was made personal secretary toNahum Sokolow in 1930. He was also a member of the Central Committee ofRadical Zionists in Poland.
In 1933, he immigrated to theBritish Mandate of Palestine and worked as a lawyer inTel Aviv. He was one of the founders of theGeneral Zionists and later deputy chairman of the World Confederation of General Zionists Association. He was also a member of the Zionist Actions Committee.
After the establishment of theState of Israel in 1948, he was a member of theProvisional State Council. He was then elected to the first through fourthKnessets for the General Zionists. In 1954, he joinedYosef Sapir andSimha Erlich to tighten their grip on the party. However, 1957 saw a schism between him and Sapir and a decline of his power within the party. In 1961, he became one of leaders of theLiberal Party, for which he was elected to the fifth Knesset. The Liberal Party then merged intoGahal, for which he was elected to the sixth and seventh Knessets. He was a member of the House, Labor, Constitution, Law and Justice, Economic Affairs, and Finance Committees. He was also deputySpeaker of the Knesset in the 5th and 6th Knesset.[1]
In 1952, he served asMinister of Transportation and from 1952 asMinister of Health until 1955. He sought to strengthen the national control over the health system at the expense of the Israel's sick funds.[2] He was a hawkish minister, andMoshe Sharett wrote in his diary that Serlin had asked him in 1954 to attack theGaza Strip in reprisal to thePalestinian Fedayeen insurgencies.[3] In 1958, he proposed amixed election system, according to which most MKs were to be elected from thirty voting zones.
He died in 1974, streets in Tel Aviv andHolon are named after him.
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