Landau, Haim

(1916-81)

   Born in Cracow, Poland, in 1935 he immigrated (see ALIYA) to Palestine and enrolled at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, where he received a degree in construction engineering in 1944. Shortly after his arrival in Palestine, he joined the Irgun Tzvai Leumi. In 1944, he served as deputy commander of the Irgun and was subsequently appointed chief of its general command, a post that he held until 1948. One of the founding members of the Herut Party, he was elected to the first Knesset in January 1949 and reelected to all subsequent Knessets until the ninth. In December 1969, he joined the Government of National Unity as minister of development, a position he held until the resignation of Gahal from that government in August 1970. He was appointed minister without portfolio in January 1978. In January 1979, he was appointed minister of transport.