by Bob Zeidman

Levi Eshkol was a man of steady determination with a humble sense of humor and an even-keeled temperament. This calmness is unique among statesmen and probably more so among Israeli statesman. He was a master of compromise who brought together people of varied dispositions and philosophies and got them to agree. Or at least disagree civilly. This personality was a necessity for overseeing some of the most important events and directing some of the most important projects in Israel’s modern history.

Levi Skolnik was born in 1895 in the Ukrainian village of Oratovo near the city of Kiev. He entered the Jewish high school in Vilna at the age of 16 and joined the Zionist group "Tzeirei Tzion" (Youth of Zion). At the age of 19 he immigrated to Israel where he farmed and developed of love of land and agriculture. During World War I he volunteered to serve in the Hebrew Regiment of the British Army. After the war he became one of the founding members of the first kibbutz, Deganya Bet.

Levi Eshkol served on many committees in the time before statehood. He was a delegate in the elected assembly of the Jews of the Land of Israel and Zionist Congresses, and served as Chairman of the Committee for Settlement Affairs. He helped found and filled central positions in the Histadrut (the General Workers Federation) and the Eretz Yisrael Workers Party. His expertise included managing investment and financial institutions of the Federation, as well as handling security, where he filled senior positions in the Hagana and during the War of Independence.

We know that the Israeli pioneers made the barren dessert bloom, to the amazement of the world. Levi Eshkol deserves recognition for his important role in this irrigation of Israel. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Mekorot Water Company, Israel's water utility, and served as its chief executive until 1951. His work culminated in the National Water Carrier project, which became operative in 1964 during his tenure as Prime Minister.

Before the War of Independence, Eshkol served in the Haganah and acquired arms. During the war he served as the Director-General of the Ministry of Defense and is responsible for developing Israel’s defense industry.

In 1963, David Ben-Gurion retired from office for the second time and Eshkol succeeded him as Prime Minister and Minister of Defense. One of his major accomplishments in office was the establishment of full diplomatic relations with West Germany and the signing of the reparations agreement in 1952. Eshkol obtained Germany’s assurance that it had a moral obligation to provide military aid to Israel.

Levi Eshkol also presided over the Six Day War in 1967, one of Israel’s most important victories over the surrounding Arab states. Prior to the war, Eshkol used his powers of persuasion to form the first National Unity Government, bringing together political rivals for the sake of unifying Israel. He brought opposition leader Menachem Begin into the government and appointed Moshe Dayan as Minister of Defense. After the victory of the war, Eshkol took advantage of the opportunity to strengthen ties with the United States, making the U.S. the primary supplier of security and military equipment for Israel.

Eshkol’s ability to bring together people of varying ideologies and temperaments failed in only one area – he could not negotiate peace with the Arab states or the Palestinians despite repeated attempts. Levi Eshkol died of a heart attack while serving as Prime Minister on February 26, 1969. In a speech to the Knesset in 1965, Levi Eshkol prophesied about the future of the Middle East. “[T]wo elements - the inevitability and the blessings of peace – are the basis of Israel's fundamental conception, one that has found expression in statements, reactions and proposals throughout the years of our renewed existence as a State. Even before that, our movement of renascence was accompanied, almost from its beginnings, by the conviction that there is room for a common path for us and for the Arab States achieving their liberation, and that any clash between the two is bound, in the long run, to be but a fleeting episode in the annals of the nations.” Let us pray that this “episode” ends soon and that Levi Eshkol’s vision of an inevitable peace follows quickly and for many generations.