Levi Eshkol (Hebrew: לֵוִי אֶשְׁכּוֹל [leˈvi ʔeʃˈkol] ; 25 October 1895 – 26 February 1969), born Levi Yitzhak Shkolnik (Hebrew: לֵוִי יִצְחָק שְׁקוֹלְנִיק), was the prime minister of Israel from 1963 until his death from a heart attack in 1969. A founder of the Israeli Labor Party, he served in numerous senior roles, including Minister of Defense (1963–1967) and Minister of Finance (1952–1963).
Eshkol was first appointed as prime minister following the resignation of David Ben-Gurion. He then led the party in the elections to the Sixth Knesset (1965) and won, remaining in office for six consecutive years. Shortly after taking office, Eshkol made several significant changes, among them the annulment of military rule over Israeli Arabs and a successful journey to the United States, being the first Israeli leader to be formally invited to the White House. His relations with American President Lyndon B. Johnson greatly affected Israel–United States relations and later on the Six-Day War.
Eshkol was active in the Zionist movement from a young age, immigrating to Ottoman Palestine in 1914 and working in agriculture. He was among the founders of the major institutions of the Yishuv, most importantly the Histadrut and Haganah. Eshkol was treasurer of Hapoel Hatzair political party and treasurer of the Agricultural Center. In 1929, he was elected as chairman of the settlement committee within the Zionist Congress, taking a leading role in enabling conditions for new construction. In 1937, Eshkol founded Mekorot water company and was its director until 1951. Simultaneously, he held positions at the Haganah, at Mapai and as chairman of Tel Aviv Workers' Council. In 1948–1949, Eshkol was Director General of the Ministry of Defense and from 1948 to 1963, he was chairman of the Settlement Department of the Jewish Agency. Elected to the Second Knesset in 1951, he was soon thereafter appointed to key government roles.
Eshkol led the Israeli government during and after the Six-Day War and was the first Israeli Prime Minister to die in office.
Levi Eshkol (Shkolnik) was born in the shtetl of Oratov, Lipovetsky Uyezd, Kiev Governorate, Russian Empire (now Orativ, Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukraine). Both his parents were Jewish, although his mother Dvora (née Krasnyanskaya) came from a Hasidic background, whereas his father Joseph Shkolnik came from a family of Mitnagdim. Both families were business-oriented and were owners of agricultural businesses including flour mills, industrial plants and forestry associated businesses.
Eshkol received a traditional Jewish education from the age of four and began Talmud studies at the age of seven. In addition to his Heder studies, Eshkol was taught by private tutors in general education. In 1911 he was accepted for studies at the Jewish gymnasium in Vilna (now Vilnius, Lithuania) and left his hometown and his family.
In Vilna, Eshkol joined the students' association Zeiri Zion (Youth of Zion) and began his connections with the Zionist movement. He was elected to the local executive committee and, in 1913, joined Hapoel Hatzair following his meeting with party leader Joseph Shprinzak.
In 1914, he left for Palestine, then part of the Ottoman Empire. He first settled in Petah Tikva and worked in the setting of irrigation tunnels at the local orchards. In later years he would be recalled as an excelling worker during this period of time. Eshkol also quickly became publicly active and was elected as a member of the local workers' union. However he soon thereafter left Petah Tikva, joining a small group that was set to settle the area of Atarot (Kalandia).
At the outbreak of World War I, fearing local hostility, his group settled briefly in Kfar Uria, Rishon LeZion and returning to Petah Tikva. In 1915–17 he was a leading member of the Judea Workers' Union. In 1918, he volunteered with the Jewish Legion and served in it until the summer of 1920.
In September 1920, Eshkol was among the 25 founders of Kibbutz Degania Bet, making it his permanent residence. However, his public activity had grown and he was often sent on various missions. In 1920, he was among the founders of Histadrut. He was also one of the founders of the Haganah. He was a member of the Haganah's first national high command (1920–21). As a delegate of Histadrut, he was an international representative in various gatherings and was tasked with organization of the "Agriculture Workers' Union". In 1929 he was a delegate for the first time to the Zionist Congress and was elected to the Zionist Executive, which made him an acting member of the executive in the newly formed Jewish Agency.
Between 1933 and 1934, Eshkol was working in Berlin on behalf of the Zionist Organization and HeHalutz youth movement. During this time he negotiated with the German authorities over what became known as the Haavara Agreement. Upon his return to Palestine in 1934, he was appointed director of Nir company, which provided funds to new agricultural settlements.
Eshkol lobbied for a national water company from circa 1930, presenting budget plans before the World Zionist Organization in 1933 and 1935. The formation of Mekorot water company was made possible in February 1937 under joint management of the Jewish Agency, Histadrut and the Jewish National Fund. Eshkol served as its director until 1951, overseeing its expansion in 1938 from agricultural territories to residential areas and the construction of the first water lines to the southern Negev area as early as 1941. By 1947, more than 200 kilometers of water lines were active.
Political and military activity 1940–49
Eshkol returned to serve in the Haganah high command from 1940 to 1948 and was in charge of the organization's treasury. He engaged in arms acquisition for the Haganah prior to and during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.
Between 1942 and 1944, Eshkol served as Secretary General of Mapai.
During the Second World War Eshkol advocated for Jewish enrollment to the British military. However, he confirmed with the Yishuv's leadership and later joined the ideology asserting differentiation between the global front and the local front, fighting against the British Mandate. In 1945–46 Eshkol was representative of Haganah in the leadership of the Jewish Resistance Movement.
In 1944 he was appointed as the Secretary General of Tel Aviv Workers' Council, remaining in this position until 1948.
In 1947 Eshkol was appointed as a member of the two major defense forums: The Negev Committee that oversaw the administration of the Negev prior to the declaration of independence of Israel, as well as the general Defense Committee of the Yishuv's leadership. Later that year, he was appointed by David Ben-Gurion to head the national recruitment center, which laid foundations to the formation of Israel Defense Forces upon independence of the State of Israel, in May 1948, at which point Eshkol was appointed Director-General of the Ministry of Defense, serving from May 1948 to January 1949.