Gluska, Zekharyah

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GLUSKA, ZEKHARYAH

GLUSKA, ZEKHARYAH (1895–1960), leader of the Yemenite community in Ereẓ Israel. Born in Nadir, Yemen, Gluska moved to Ereẓ Israel with his parents who settled in the Neveh Ẓedek quarter in Jaffa in 1909. In 1911 he joined the Ha-Po'el ha-Ẓa'ir Party and became one of the first members of the Histadrut. In 1921 he helped form the Ẓe'irei ha-Mizraḥ movement, which was founded to integrate Yemenite youth in Ereẓ Israel, and he acted as its representative in the first Asefat ha-Nivḥarim. Gluska was a founder of Hitaḥdut ha-Teimanim ("Union of Yemenites") in Ereẓ Israel and its chairman from 1925. He became its representative in the central yishuv bodies and at Zionist Congresses. In 1949 he was elected on behalf of the Yemenite list to the First Knesset.

bibliography:

Tidhar, 3 (1958), 1515–16.

[Benjamin Jaffe]