Yitzhak Ben Tzvi Inaugurated as Israel's Second President
Yitzhak Ben Tzvi was born in what is now Ukraine, on December 6th, 1884. In 1904, Ben Tzvi first came to Israel, and that is when his love for our country began. He participated in a ceremony that was held in commemoration of Binyamin Zeev Herzl's death, and that is where he befriended some of the Zionist leaders and future leaders.
On his return home, he established the Poalei Zion political party and began to actively work to spread the Zionist vision. After weapons that were hidden in his father's backyard were discovered in 1906, his father was exiled for 16 years to Siberia, and his mother and brothers had gone there with him. However, Ben Tzvi managed to escape, and he continued with his political work.
In 1907 Ben Tzvi made Aliyah to Israel and continued to work towards the building of the Jewish state in Israel. In 1933 he received an Honorary Degree of the British Empire, from King Edward the VIII himself. You can find Ben Tzvi's signature on the Declaration of Independence!
He served as a member of Knesset for four years, until he was elected President of Israel on December 8th, 1952, just two days after his birthday. That's quite the birthday gift. He was the only person in Israel's history to be elected for President three times, and at the beginning of his third term, on April 23rd, 1963, Ben Tzvi, unfortunately, passed away.
He is buried on Har Hamenuhot in Jerusalem.
