Rabinowitz, Yehoshua
RABINOWITZ, YEHOSHUA
RABINOWITZ, YEHOSHUA (1911–1979), Israeli politician. Rabinowitz was born in Vishnevets, Poland, where his father was a well-to-do merchant. He studied at the Tarbut school and graduated from the Teachers' Seminary in Vilna. He was appointed director of a Hebrew school in Poland, where he was active in the He-Ḥalutz movement.
Immigrating to Ereẓ Israel in 1934 Rabinowitz was employed in the Department of Industry of Hamashbir Hamerkazi, eventually becoming head of the Consumers' Cooperative of Israel.
Elected to the municipal council of Tel Aviv in 1956, he succeeded Mordekhai Namir as mayor in 1969. The Israel Labor Party, which he represented, was defeated in the elections held in 1973, and he was not reelected. A member of the Central Bureau of the Labor Party, he was regarded as a key figure in the movement and wielded enormous influence in it councils.
In March 1974 Rabinowitz was appointed minister of housing in the short-lived government of Golda Meir, but when Pinḥas Sapir decided not to serve in the government formed on June 3, by Yiẓḥak Rabin, Rabinowitz was appointed to succeed him as minister of finance, remaining in office until the elections held in May 1977.