Former Knesset Speaker Yitzchak Berman has passed away at the age of 100. Berman served as the Speaker of the Ninth Knesset, as a representative of Likud.
Berman was born in 1913 and came to Israel from Ukraine in 1920. In 1937 he joined the Etzel pre-state military group, which fought to defend the Jewish settlement in Israel and to oust the British occupation.
In 1948 the Etzel joined the Haganah, which became the IDF.
While Berman lived to an old age, his death still brings sorrow, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein said Sunday.
“Yitzchak Berman merited a long life, but there is pain at his death, the pain of a generation that has gone. A generation that gave everything to establish the state of Israel as a strong, stable country with a tradition of democracy,” he said.
“The Knesset bows its head in memory of this honest man, who stood at its head and faithfully served the nation of Israel,” he declared.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu eulogized Berman as well. “Everyone who knew him, knew him as a Zionist, an Israeli patriot and a real Jew, and I think he epitomized the Israeli ideal,” he said at Sunday’s cabinet meeting.
Berman will be buried in the section of the Har Herzl cemetery designated for national leaders (Gedolei Hauma). The funeral will begin at 6 pm.