2026-07-01 01:00:AM <br/> Tags: #Israel #WorldJewry #people #Intel #EarlyZionism ![[image-299.png|244x364]] # Eliezer Kaplan (1891-1952) - Eliezer Kaplan was an early Zionist leader and an Israeli politician who most notably served as the country's first minister of finance. - Kaplan is described as "one of the prominent leaders of the Labor [Zionist] movement in Israel."[^2] #### Background and Early Life - Kaplan was born in Minsk, Russian Empire (now Belarus) in 1981. - Kaplan became involved in political Zionism as a teenager in 1905 when he joined the Socialist Zionist Party.[^1] - Kaplan was a member of the Ukrainian delegation to the Versailles Peace Conference in 1919.[^1] - Kaplan was elected to the [[World Zionist Organization]]'s Zionist Executive Committee in 1920.[^1] - Kaplan made aliyah to [[Yishuv|Jewish Palestine]] in 1920. - Kaplan returned to pre-statehood Israel in 1923 and took a position on the board of the office of public works of the [[Histadrut]], Israel's national trade union a key state institution. #### Leading Zionist - Kaplan served as treasurer of the [[Jewish Agency]], the [[Yishuv]]'s governing body, from 1933-1948. He also served as head of the Jewish Agency's settlement division from 1943-1948. - During this time, Kaplan was aligned with [[Chaim Weizmann]]'s General Zionists party in the [[World Zionist Organization]]. - As [[Jewish Agency]] treasurer, Kaplan was in constant coordination with major American Jewish organizations and their leaders. - In 1937, Kaplan arrived in the United States to announce a $5 million [[United Israel Appeal]] (United Palestine Appeal at the time) campaign. The proceeds of the campaign were to be split between the [[Jewish National Fund]], [[Palestine Foundation Fund]], and the Emergency Fund for Palestine.[^4] - After the creation of the American Zionist Emergency Council in 1943, [[Nahum Goldmann]], the [[Jewish Agency]]'s U.S. representative and, in 1936, founder of the [[World Jewish Congress]], reported the developments of the council's creation directly to Kaplan.[^3] - In his letter to Kaplan, Goldmann emphasized the importance of specific AZEC founding clauses to normalize the "cooperation of American Jewry with world Jewry" via the [[World Zionist Organization]] and the [[World Jewish Congress]].[^3] - The American Zionist Emergency Council was later reformed as the [[American Zionist Council (AZC)]] in 1949. - In 1945, Kaplan was present at the founding of the [[Sonneborn Institute]], a secret network of American Jewish millionaire Zionists using their positions to smuggle weapons to pre-statehood Israel in preparation for the [[1948 Arab Israeli War]].[^8] - The institute's founding took place in the New York apartment of [[Rudolf Sonneborn]], and was organized by [[David Ben-Gurion]]. - In 1948, Kaplan was among the signatories of Israel's declaration of independence.[^5] - Upon the formation of Israel's provisional war-time government in 1948, Kaplan became the country's first finance minister.[^5] - Kaplan is known for his implementation of extreme austerity measures, leading to a recession and near economic failure until the Israeli government and the [[Claims Conference]] negotiated the holocaust Reparations Agreement with the West German government in 1952.[^7] - As finance minister Kaplan was deeply involved in designing and implementing national funding mechanisms for the [[1948 Arab Israeli War]].[^6] - Kaplan is described as "one of the initiators" of [[Israel Bonds]] in the early 1950s.[^1] #### References [^1]: “Eliezer Kaplan,” _The Knesset_, [https://main.knesset.gov.il/en/mk/apps/mk/mk-personal-details/606](https://main.knesset.gov.il/en/mk/apps/mk/mk-personal-details/606). [^2]: Eliezer Kaplan, "Of Days Past" trans. Sara Mages, _Yizkor Book Project_, JewishGen, [https://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/minsk/min1_559.html#:~:text=one%20of%20the%20prominent%20leaders](https://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/minsk/min1_559.html#:~:text=one%20of%20the%20prominent%20leaders). [^3]: Nahum Goldmann and Eliezer Kaplan correspondence “Emergency Committee for Zionist Affairs,” *David Ben-Gurion Archives*, January 28, 1943, [https://bengurionarchive.bgu.ac.il/en/search-api/bg_arc/210885](https://bengurionarchive.bgu.ac.il/en/search-api/bg_arc/210885). [^4]: “Eliezer Kaplan Arrives; to Seek Political Aid Here for Zionists,” _Jewish Telegraphic Agency_, February 4, 1937 [https://www.jta.org/archive/eliezer-kaplan-arrives-to-seek-political-aid-here-for-zionists](https://www.jta.org/archive/eliezer-kaplan-arrives-to-seek-political-aid-here-for-zionists). [^5]: “Eliezer Kaplan,” _Wikipedia_, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliezer_Kaplan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliezer_Kaplan). [^6]: Dror Goldberg, _Deception through Credible Commitment: Secret Inflationary Finance in Israel’s War of Independence_ (The Open University of Israel, Department of Management and Economics, September 2023), [https://cepr.org/system/files/2023-10/IMHOS%20-%20Goldberg.pdf](https://cepr.org/system/files/2023-10/IMHOS%20-%20Goldberg.pdf). [^7]: Joseph Zeira, _The Israeli Economy: A Story of Success and Costs_ (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2021), 161. [^8]: U.S. Department of Justice, memorandum regarding Leonard Slater’s _The Pledge_, memorandum to James L. Weldon Jr., Chief, Registration Section, September 17, 1970, [https://www.israellobby.org/slater/09171970_DOJ_Pledge.pdf](https://www.israellobby.org/slater/09171970_DOJ_Pledge.pdf).