Geulah Cohen

Geulah Cohen was born in Tel Aviv, Mandatory Palestine to a Mizrahi Jewish family of Yemenite, Moroccan and Turkish origin.^[1] She was the daughter of Miriam and Yosef Cohen.^[2] She studied at the Levinsky Teachers Seminary, and earned a master's degree in Jewish Studies, Philosophy, Literature and Bible at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.^[3]

In 1942 she joined the Irgun, and moved to Lehi the following year.^[4][5][6] As a radio announcer for the organization, she was arrested by British military authorities in 1946^[7] while broadcasting in Tel Aviv. She escaped custody in May, shortly before her trial, and was helped in her escape by a number of Arab villages as described in her memoirs of the period but was recaptured.^[1] On 6 June 1946, she was sentenced to seven years in prison (the Encyclopaedia Judaica lists the sentence as 19 years) for possessing a wireless transmitter, pistols, revolvers, and ammunition. During sentencing she sang "Hatikvah" and was accompanied by 30 members of her family.^[8] Imprisoned in Bethlehem, she escaped in 1947.^[7]

Cohen was editor of the Lehi newspaper Youth Front. Following the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948, she contributed to Sulam, a monthly magazine published by former Lehi leader Israel Eldad.^[1]

Cohen was married to former Lehi comrade Emanuel Hanegbi.^[9] From 1961 to 1973, she wrote for the Israeli newspaper Maariv and served on its editorial board.^[10] During her career as a journalist, she visited Menachem Mendel Schneerson in New York, who encouraged her to focus on engaging with Israeli youth.^[11]

Cohen died on 18 December 2019, at the age of 93. She was buried at the Mount of Olives Jewish Cemetery in Jerusalem.^[1]

In 1972, Cohen joined Menachem Begin's Herut party,^[7] which was then part of the Gahal alliance. She was elected to the Knesset the following year, by which time Gahal had merged into Likud. She was re-elected in 1977.^[12]

As an opponent of the Camp David Accords and the return of Sinai Peninsula to Egypt, Cohen was thrown out of the Knesset during Begin's presentation of the agreement.^[7] In 1979, Cohen and Moshe Shamir left Likud to establish a new far-right party, initially called Banai, later Tehiya-Bnai, and then Tehiya.^[7] The new party was a strong supporter of Gush Emunim and included prominent members from Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza such as Hanan Porat and Elyakim Haetzni.^[13]

Cohen retained her seat in the 1981 elections, and Tehiya joined Begin's coalition government.^[14] She was re-elected in 1984 and 1988. In June 1990, following a coalition crisis, she was appointed to the cabinet as Deputy Minister of Science and Technology.^[14]

Cohen lost her seat in the 1992 elections.^[1] That year, she rejoined Likud and remained active in right-wing politics.^[1] Her son, Tzachi Hanegbi, is a former Knesset member for the Likud.^[1]

Cohen opposed territorial concessions. She was a vocal critic of the Camp David Accords in 1978 and of Israel's unilateral disengagement plan from Gaza in 2005.^[15] She described herself as a "woman of violence" in the pursuit of political ends.^[16]

• In 2003, Cohen was awarded the Israel Prize for her lifetime achievements and special contribution to society and the State of Israel.^[17][18]
• In 2007, she received the Yakir Yerushalayim (Worthy Citizen of Jerusalem) award from the city of Jerusalem.^[19]

• Story of a Warrior (1961; Hebrew autobiography)
• Woman of Violence: Memoirs of a Young Terrorist, 1943–1948. Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 1966. (autobiography)
• Historical Meeting (1986) (Hebrew)
• Ein li koah lehiyot ayefa ("No Strength To Be Tired"; 2008)