Esther Raziel-Naor

Esther Raziel-Naor (; 29 November 1911 – 11 November 2002) was a Revisionist Zionist, Irgun leader and Israeli politician. She was the sister of fellow Irgun leader David Raziel.

Biography

Early life Raziel was born in Smarhon (now in Grodno Region, Belarus) in 1911, a year after her brother, David. Her household spoke Hebrew, as her parents refused to speak the more common Yiddish. In 1914, her family immigrated to Eretz Israel, after her father was offered a Hebrew teacher’s position at the “Tachmoni” school in Tel Aviv. However, when World War I began, the family was deported by the Ottomans, along with other Russian nationals, to Egypt. She moved back to Russia and returned to Palestine in 1923, after an 8-year absence.

In 1932, she joined Betar and organized the "National Cells." In 1935, she completed the Levinsky Teachers Seminary in Tel Aviv and moved to Jerusalem to work as a teacher, but was fired after being caught wearing a Betar insignia. She returned to Tel Aviv and took a "Lieutenants" course.

Irgun activity

In 1936, as the Arab Revolt began, she joined her brother in the Irgun. She took a first aid course and in August she took part in a reprisal. In 1939, she became the first broadcaster of the Irgun's underground radio station, Kol Zion Halohemet, as well as a writer for Hamashkif, its newspaper. In 1943 she was selected to be a member of the Irgun's command structure. She was pregnant at the time of her arrest and on August 18, 1944, after a seven-month internment, she was released and gave birth shortly after. She was placed under house arrest and was frequently investigated. In 2011, the Jerusalem municipality named a street after her in Har Homa. Her son, Aryeh Naor, whose wife is Miriam Naor, the President of the Supreme Court of Israel, was cabinet secretary for both of Menachem Begin's governments.