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About
Geula Cohen (December 25, 1925 – December 18, 2019) was an Israeli politician, journalist, author, and prominent figure in the right-wing Revisionist Zionist movement. Born in Tel Aviv, Mandatory Palestine, to a Mizrahi Jewish family of Yemenite, Moroccan, and Turkish origins, she was one of ten children of Miriam Cohen (a nurse of Moroccan and Turkish descent) and Yosef Cohen (a Yemenite immigrant who arrived in 1909 at age 10, co-founder of the Magen Avraham synagogue in Tel Aviv, and founder of the Yemenite Union in Israel). Her younger brother was educator Aharon Cohen. She studied at Levinsky Teachers Seminary (expelled after joining the Irgun) and earned an M.A. in Jewish Studies, Philosophy, Literature, and Bible from Hebrew University of Jerusalem, receiving the Chaim Nachman Bialik Prize for outstanding students in 1951.
At age 17, she joined the Irgun (Etzel) in 1942 and transferred to Lehi in 1943, serving as Lehi's official radio announcer under the alias 'Ilana' to broadcast anti-British messages. Arrested on February 18, 1946, in Tel Aviv while broadcasting, she was sentenced on June 6, 1946, to 7 years imprisonment (some sources cite 19 years) for illegal possession of a wireless transmitter, pistols, revolvers, and ammunition; she sang Hatikvah in court. Imprisoned in Bethlehem women's prison after an escape attempt that wounded her leg, she escaped on October 1947 with Lehi assistance, disguised as an Arab woman, and was hidden in Jerusalem and Haifa.
She married fellow Lehi fighter Emanuel Hanegbi in 1947; they separated in 1962 and had two sons: Tzachi Hanegbi (former Knesset member, minister, and National Security Council head) and Yair Hanegbi (who was autistic and died at age 20).
After Israel's founding, Cohen edited Lehi's Youth Front newspaper, contributed to Israel Eldad's Sulam magazine (1948), served as a columnist and editorial board member for Maariv (1961–1973), and founded the National Academy (1971) as chair. Her key publications include the Hebrew autobiography סיפורה של לוחמת (1961/1995), English memoirs Woman of Violence: Memoirs of a Young Terrorist, 1943–1948 (1966), מיפגש היסטורי (1986), אין לי כוח להיות עייפה (2008), and שרה ואבשלום אנשי ניל"י (2007), among others.
Politically, she served in the Knesset from January 21, 1974, to July 13, 1992 (8th–12th Knessets), initially with Likud (1973, 1977 elections), then founding Tehiya in 1979 with Moshe Shamir and others in opposition to the Camp David Accords. Tehiya participated in 1977–1992 elections, supporting Gush Emunim and West Bank/Gaza settlements. She chaired the Committee on Immigration and Absorption (later Absorption and Diaspora) and was Deputy Minister of Science and Technology (1990–1991, 24th government), resigning in protest of the Madrid Conference. She lost her seat in 1992 and rejoined Likud (not elected in 1996). Key actions included opposing the Camp David Accords (1978) by tearing accord pages and being ejected from the Knesset; opposing Sinai withdrawal, Yamit evacuation, Oslo Accords, and Gaza disengagement (2005); pushing to disqualify Arab parties as PLO proxies; founding the Knesset lobby for Jonathan Pollard's release (1987); and co-initiating the Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel (1980).
A hardline right-wing ideologue, she advocated 'peace for peace, not land for peace,' warned against Camp David creating a terror base, criticized Arab MKs as undermining the Jewish-Zionist state, and self-described as a 'woman of violence' for her pre-state fight, emphasizing maximalist settlements and an undivided Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
Awards include the Israel Prize (2003) for lifetime achievements and special contribution to society and state, and Yakir Yerushalayim (2007). She died at age 93 in Israel and was buried in the Mount of Olives Jewish Cemetery, Jerusalem.