David Zvi Pinkas, Israel Minister of Communications, died here early this morning in his room at the King David Hotel from a heart ailment. He was 57 years old.
His death was discovered by the management of the hotel after he failed to keep an appointment with other members of the Israel Cabinet with whom he was supposed to discuss problems concerning state interests. When he did not appear at the appointed hour, Finance Minister Levi Eshkol telephoned to Mr. Pinkas’ room, and receiving no reply for some time, communicated with the hotel manager who ordered the door opened with a passkey.
Upon entering the room, the hotel employes found the Minister of Communications dead in his bed with documents from his office near him. A physician was summoned and established that Mr. Pinkas had been dead since about 2 A. M. The office of the Israel Premier was immediately notified and an urgent Cabinet meeting was held at which funeral details were worked out.
The Minister will be buried tomorrow in Tel Aviv near his parents, in accordance with his wishes which he incidentally expressed several hours before his sudden death. One of his officials asked him jokingly last night whether he intended to move to Jerusalem for permanent residence. He replied: “I am all for settling in Jerusalem while on duty, but I prefer to keep my permanent home in Tel Aviv, because when I die–and I don’t yet intend to die–I would like to rest near my parents who prepared a site for me near their graves.”
Israel marines, air force and police will keep guard throughout the night at the coffin which will be brought from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, and placed, until tomorrow morning, in the hall where the Knesset held its first meeting after the establishment of the State, and from where the funeral will start. The funeral procession will pass the Great Synagogue in Tel Aviv where Mr. Pinkas was president. All government offices will be closed during the funeral. The preparations for the funeral are being supervised by Premier David Ben Gurion.
Born in Hungary, Mr. Pinkas received his education at the Vienna University and the Pressburg Rabbinical Seminary. He was a leading member of the Mizrachi, Zionist Orthodox organization. He settled in Palestine in 1925, and was elected member of the Tel Aviv municipality in 1932. He was chairman of the Finance Committee of the first Israel Parliament when the Jewish State was established.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
