Elie Yossef
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Elie Yossef (Eli Joseph) is an Israeli educator and veteran Jewish activist. He grew up in London and attended the Hasmonean High School where he established Betar England in 1973. In 1975, Yossef came on Aliya to Israel and served in the Golani and Paratroopers brigades of the Israel Defense Forces. After completing his regular military service, Yossef studied in Machon Meir and Hebrew University. In 1988, Yossef founded and administered a Youth Aliyah (Aliyat haNoar) high school for new immigrants from France, and in 1997, he founded a military preparatory program for Jewish students from abroad interested in volunteering in Israel's army.[1] Although past the age of compulsory reserve duty, Yossef insists on continuing to serve and even participated as a combat soldier in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon Conflict. Yossef is a teacher to the Magshimey Herut movement's chapter in Jerusalem and is seen by many activists as the group's leading ideologue.
Over the years, Yossef has become known in many circles as "Israel's moral conscience." He is a frequent critic of government behavior and is often seen demonstrating in front of the Israeli prime minister's office in Jerusalem. Yossef worked for many years as a leader in the struggle to free Jonathan Pollard and has been credited with bringing Pollard's story to the attention of Israel's youth.[2] Yossef has also been active in trying to pressure the Israeli government to obtain closure regarding the status of Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat who saved countless Jews from the Holocaust during World War II but was arrested following the war by Soviet agents.[3]
Following the violent confrontation at Amona between the Israeli police and settler teenagers in early 2006, Yossef led Magshimey Herut activists on a three week hunger strike vigil protesting violence between Jews. The activists displayed banners and handed out flyers calling on both the Israeli government and settler leadership to seek out ways to avoid future bloodshed. Perhaps because this took place just before national elections, the hunger strike drew criticism from some settlers who had felt victimized by the government and sought to use the tragedy as a means to hurt the ruling Kadima party in the upcoming elections. The government had no official response to the vigil.[4]
Yossef has recently taken a central role in Magshimey Herut's campaign calling on the government of Israel to cut all diplomatic ties to Russia due to Russia's involvement in Iran's nuclear development program.[5] [6] In a statement to the press, Magshimey Herut said that "Israel must take a moral stand and send a clear message to the global community that we will not pursue diplomacy or commerce with nations working towards our annihilation." Criticizing the reactions of several Israeli politicians to the campaign, Yossef told Israel National Radio's Yishai Fleisher that "the Jewish People must find the moral courage to stand up to super-powers in such situations."[7]
While clearly a student of Zev Jabotinsky and an admirer of Menachem Begin (although Yossef actively opposed the Camp David Accords with Egypt and Israel's subsequent withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula), Yossef does not fit anywhere on Israel's political map. His ideology reflects a moral and humanistic approach to Zionism that often appears to transcend shallow definitions of right and left. Yossef has often referred to himself as a Humanitarian Zionist or a Revolutionary Zionist, titles which he may or may not view as synonyms for Revisionist Zionism.
In recent years, Yossef has been working as a real estate agent to support his family and political activities. In August 2005 he founded the Eli Joseph Jerusalem Real Estate company and has since been providing service to clients in both Israel and the Diaspora.[8]
[edit] See also
- Israel
- Magshimey Herut
- Revisionist Zionism
- Yehuda HaKohen
- Zev Jabotinsky
- Zionism
- Zionist youth movement
