In 1943 he completed the Haganah officers’ course. In the War of Independence he served as chief intelligence officer of the Etzioni Brigade, the Haganah’s Jerusalem brigade, and then commanded a company. He also earned a master’s degree in archaeology at the Hebrew University.
He was later one of the contributors to the Encyclopaedia Biblica (volume 2, 1954), signing his entries with the Hebrew initials M.G.T. In 1946, two years before the state was founded, he was chosen for the first class of the diplomatic school set up by the Jewish Agency’s Political Department to prepare a foreign service for the state-to-be.
Some 600 candidates applied, and only 25 were chosen. Beside him in class sat Aharon YarivMajor General, former head of Military Intelligence and adviser to the Prime Minister.What they wanted: To use the ceasefire for direct military talks with Egypt, at Kilometre 101.More on Aharon Yariv in “People and events” → and Yehoshafat HarkabiHead of IDF Military Intelligence, 1955–1959; later a professor of international relations.More on Yehoshafat Harkabi in “People and events” →, both later heads of IDF Military Intelligence. The course ran from November 1946 to spring 1948, and the students were also asked to plan the foreign ministry of the state-to-be.
The ministry drew on the document they prepared when it was set up, in May 1948.
A fork in the road
Books or arms?
The university
The price: Giving up a place in the force being built for the struggle ahead.
The underground
The price: Giving up a profession and a civilian future.
And what happened?
In the end he did both: an officers’ course, and a master’s degree in archaeology.
Sources (6)
- Daniel S. Benjamin — Mordechai Gazit Returns to Academe Testimony
- Mordechai Gazit — Hebrew Wikipedia Biography
- Mordechai Gazit — Wikipedia Biography
- Israeli Association for Diplomacy — Milestones in the history of Israeli diplomacy (Hebrew) Biography
- Encyclopaedia Biblica, volume 2 — list of contributors (Hebrew) Book or article
- Moshe Sharett Heritage Society — Zionist diplomacy at its beginnings, and today (Hebrew) Biography
Israel and the world
The Haganah
The Haganah was the principal military organisation of the Jewish community in Mandatory Palestine. Its command training and units formed part of the foundation of the Israel Defense Forces in 1948.
Explore on WikipediaWorld War II
His officer training took place during World War II and the Holocaust. The war ended in 1945, leaving a transformed international order.
Explore on WikipediaMore background from the period (1)
A school for diplomats, before there was a state
In 1946, when a Jewish state began to look possible, the Jewish Agency decided to train in advance those who would represent it in the world. Walter EytanThe first Director-General of the Foreign Ministry, 1948–1959; later Israel’s ambassador to France.More on Walter Eytan in “People and events” →, later the first Director-General of the Foreign Ministry, founded the Institute for Advanced Studies in Jerusalem.
The students did more than study: a group of them, guided by Eytan, prepared a proposal for the structure of the future Foreign Ministry. When the ministry was set up in May 1948, Eytan relied on their document.
The challenge was to build a foreign service for a state that did not yet exist, under British rule and in the midst of a struggle.
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