Special JTA News Analysis Histadrut Chief Tells It Like It Is–without Fear or Favor

There is always news on the fifth floor of the Histadrut headquarters building in Tel Aviv and it is usually stormy news because it is generated by an impulsive personality sometimes referred to as “the stormy petrel of Israeli politics.” He is Yitzhak Ben-Aharon, general secretary of the Histadrut, Israel’s powerful Labor Federation. He is no “yes” man even in the Establishment in which he is supposed to be a partner and does not hesitate to voice his own stand, which usually does not coincide with that of other Establishment members.

Ben-Aharon sees himself as a kind of public “sanitarian.” He believes it is his duty to safeguard the idealism which he feels seems to be fading in the materialistic world of today, in the Israeli society and even sometimes in some sections of Israel’s labor movement.

EARLY RECOGNITION OF LEADERSHIP

A native of Bukovina, Rumania, Ben-Aharon came to Palestine as a halutz and was soon recognized as a leader of his movement, the leftist Achdut Avodah. With his customary farsightedness, he was among the first Palestinian Jews to join the British Army during World War II. While he was serving in Greece in 1940, he was captured by the Germans, together with Yosef Almogi and Joseph Bankover, all Labor leaders. At the end of the war, Ben-Aharon was a captain of His Majesty’s forces, a status which did not prevent him from becoming active in the battle for establishment of a Jewish State, an activity which led to his court martial.

Then Israel was established. Ben-Aharon, always a leader in his party, became Minister of Transport, a post he held in the many Ben-Gurionled coalition governments. He quit the coalition over a devaluation of Israel’s currency when he decided that the benefits of the move had been wasted by the Treasury. It meant that the official who, as a Minister had a chauffeur-driven car, an official residence and scores of subordinates, gave it up to return to his kibbutz, Givat Chaim, to do his chores in the communal dining hall, serving meals to his fellow kibbutzniks.

HIS HINTS WERE IGNORED

More than once during that period, he hinted he was ready for more service to his movement but the hints were ignored. He was not much liked by colleagues in the higher echelons of his party, presumably for some public comments which have been deeply etched in the political history of Israel and its labor movement.

He said on one occasion that Israel’s labor movement suffered from “intellectual thrombosis,” that the leadership was “too old.” and that party officials and the party mechanism had taken over control of “the idea, of the thinking life.” He once advocated including Rafi, the maverick movement created by a disenchanted Ben-Gurion during his final retirement from the Premiership, in the Labor Alignment at a time when Rafi was considered “treif.” He also remarked once that the number of portfolios in the Cabinet was artificially and unnecessarily enlarged.

A loner, his remarks in meetings, party gatherings and conventions have generally been statements people did not want to hear, though they could not deny them. He is “a man of values.” people would say and some observers said that if he had a public post, he might be less often heard. They were wrong. When the post of Histadrut secretary general became open, support for Ben-Aharon picked up momentum and he got the position. His entrance to the secretary-general’s office on the fifth floor was something like that of a soldier storming an enemy position. He was called the man “in battle dress” who replaced the elegant and smiling former secretary general, Aharon Becker.

HE BROUGHT CONVICTIONS WITH HIM

Ben-Aharon came to his new post with convictions. One was that the Histadrut had lost many of its positions and much of its public image and he was determined to regain them. He wanted a Histadrut that would not be a branch of a government office but a Histadrut that would deal not only with wages and social benefits but one which would be a factor struggling to mould the Israeli economy and the Israeli people. The “new broom” had almost immediate encounters with other members of the Histadrut central committee, the echoes of which were heard far from Histadrut headquarters and which had their repercussions on party politics.

During recent labor troubles, it was clear that Ben-Aharon was the key figure in the way settlements were reached. It was he who settled the Ashdod port strike in favor of the workers. It was he who directed the negotiations in the canned goods industry, which was on the verge of a strike but averted it with Premier Golda Meir’s intervention. That intervention led him to resign. A series of walkouts in his support convinced him to withdraw his resignation and he returned in triumph to his office. Strengthened by this evidence of support, he is taking a tough stand against employers in the current candy strike.

He also will make such statements as his recent pledge to exiled Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis that Israel’s workers would support the composer’s fight to oust the “regime of the Colonels” in Greece. This was considered his way to induce the Left to recognize the rightness of Israel’s cause because “in the long run, they are our only ally.” He speaks without need for approval by the government.

CONFLICTS WITH OTHER LEADERS

Ben-Aharon often is in conflict with Pinhas Sapir, the financial and economic boss of Israel. Ben-Aharon wants what he thinks is best for the workers. He does not want people to get rich on the labor of the workers. He is opposed to contractors who become rich because of the war and Israel’s security situation. He proposed a war economy which would have been closer to a Communist form of economy which angered the Treasury and Finance Minister Sapir. Other critics said such proposals were harmful to Israel’s economy and that strikes are bad too. But Ben-Aharon remains convinced his way is the right one.

As an official, his office workers call him nice and understanding. He brings flowers from his kibbutz every Friday. He also opposes “permanent public officials.” He denounced “the Yadlins.” Aharon Yadlin is the labor party secretary general and Asher Yadlin is the head of the Histadrut complex of enterprises. He argued that they had no touch with the workers, whose rights he intends to safeguard. He is on the run constantly as guardian of the workers and the question arises: to what point will he be permitted to run?