Yosef Tabenkin, commander of the Palmach-Harel Brigade which broke the siege of Jerusalem during the War of Independence, died at his kibbutz, Ein Harod-Meuhad, on Rosh Hashanah. He was 66. Tabenkin was buried at the kibbutz Sunday.
Known as “Yosefle,” Tabenkin was the son of Yitzhak Tabenkin, a contemporary of David Ben-Gurion and founder and long-time leader of the Kibbutz HaMeuhad Federation and of the Ahdut HaAvoda Party.
Yosef Tabenkin was also in the central committee of Shlemut HaAretz, which believed in the concept of a “whole Israel.” After his army career, Tabenkin studied engineering at the Haifa Technion and in recent years had headed various kibbutz industrial firms.
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