Gershon Zak

Gershon Zak
Native name	גרשון זק
Born	1913 Russian Empire
Died	1989
Allegiance	State of Israel
Service / branch	Israeli Navy
Years of service	1931–1949
Rank	Head of sea service, was not an IDF personal
Commands	Head of the Sea service there was no commander Israeli Navy
Battles / wars	1947–1949 Palestine war
Other work	Establishment of HaKfar HaYarok, receiving Israel Prize

Gershon Zak (Hebrew: גרשון זק; 1913–1989) was the head of the naval service which became the Israeli Navy, along with Paul Shulman. Shulman was commander and Zak was administrator for the MOD.

Biography

Born in the Russian Empire in 1913, Zak made aliyah to Mandate Palestine, where he joined the Haganah. On 17 March 1948 future Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion (and at the time the leader of the Haganah) gave the order to create a Jewish naval service. He remained as head of the Sea Service that became the Israeli Navy until April 1949 when he resigned in order to pursue a career in teaching. The following year he established the HaKfar HaYarok youth village.

Zak was a member of the executive at Yad Levi Eshkol. He was also responsible for renaming HaKfar HaYarok after Levi Eshkol after he died.

Awards and honours

In 1986, Zak, together with HaKfar HaYarok, won the Israel Prize for lifetime achievement to education.

See also

• List of Israel Prize recipients