Lova Eliav was a man who worked tirelessly for the nation and State of Israel. He led thousands of Jews back to their homeland and was one of the great leaders in bringing settlers to the desert. It is our desire that his good character, values of Zionism and nationalism and love for mankind will continue to live on forever at Nitzana. May we learn from and always remember his outstanding examples of selflessness and humbleness.
Lova will be greatly missed by all who knew him.
Lova Eliav immigrated to Israel from Moscow when he was four years old. In his 89 years of life he has done what most of us would need two lifetimes to accomplish. Below we have given a brief account of some of his life accomplishments. As impressive as it is, it is by no means a complete account.
Military Service
He served in the Haganah, the Aliyah Bet Movement and the Mossad. Immediately after the Holocaust, he drove a ship up to Northern Europe and rescued many Jews along the way and brought them home safely. He also paved the way for thousands of Russian Jews to come home. During the Suez Crisis h e supervised Operation Tushia which rescued the Jews of Port Said and brought them to Israel. He completed his military service with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
Education
He went on to earn a Bachelor's degree in history and science at the University of Jerusalem. Lova Eliav has been a teacher and a sociologist, teaching abroad as well as in Israel. He was a fellow and lecturer on International Affairs at Harvard University and Trinity College.
Political Career
He was close friends and co-worker with Prime Minister Levi Eshkol. He also worked with Golda Meir.
He served as a Knesset member for 18 years, which included being appointed Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry and Deputy Minister of Immigrant Absorption. He also served as General Secretary of the Labour Party and was the first person to start a dialogue with members of the PLO.
Special Projects
In Iran he ran a rehabilitation project in a region that had been destroyed by an earthquake and he also headed Israel's rehabilitation mission to earthquake stricken Nicaragua.
He authored fifteen published books and has written numerous research papers and reports.
Lova Eliav is one of the most decorated citizens of Israel, being awarded over twenty prizes for his contribution to humanity, peace, town developments and other important issues. Included among these are Doctor of Honour of all important academic institutes of Israel, 1988 winner of the Israel Prize for special contributions to society and the State of Israel and in 2003 he won the Ben-Gurion Prize.
With the exception of David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first Prime Minister, Lova Eliav has probably done more than anyone else in helping to develop the Negev. He founded the city of Arad in the eastern Negev and was responsible for developing the towns of Lachish and Kiryat Gat. In the 1980's, he saw that the South was greatly lacking in facilities for youth, and had an idea to turn the sand dunes of Nitzana in the Western Negev into a youth village.
A few shacks on the hillside were all that could be found in the Nitzana area at that time. Lova and his wife came and set up camp along with a planning team. Though their undertaking was a difficult one, their pioneering spirit, determination, and foresight won out, and Nitzana would soon become an oasis in the desert, providing science, technology and ecology education to thousands of Israeli, Arab and Bedouin youths.
Lova's vision for the future of Nitzana and its region that he has held for years has in part already come true;
"When the long awaited peace is established, Nitzana will become a national and international point for science, research, education, trade, tourism, agriculture and industry. Such a future will be in the spirit of David Ben-Gurion's dream to build the Negev."
