Pinhas Rutenberg (February 5, 1879 – January 3, 1942; Russian: Пётр Моисеевич Рутенберг, Pyotr Moiseyevich Rutenberg; Hebrew: פנחס רוטנברג‎) was a Russian-born Zionist, businessman, and Jewish Nationalist in Mandatory Palestine. He played an active role in two Russian revolutions, in 1905 and 1917. During World War I, he was among the founders of the Jewish Legion and of the American Jewish Congress. Later, through his connections in Palestine, he managed to obtain a concession for production and distribution of electric power and founded the Palestine Electric Company, currently the Israel Electric Corporation. A vocal and committed Jewish Nationalist, Rutenberg also participated in establishing the Haganah, the main Jewish militia in pre-war Palestine, and founded Palestine Airways. He subsequently served as a President of the Jewish National Council.

Socialist and revolutionary

Pinhas Rutenberg was born in the town of Romny, north of Poltava, Russian Empire (now in Ukraine). After graduating from a practical high school, he enrolled to the Technology Institute in Saint Petersburg and joined the Socialist-Revolutionary Party (also known as the S.R. or Eser party). He worked as a workshop manager at the Putilov plant, the largest Petersburg industry. The plant was a center of the Assembly of Russian Factory and Plant Workers, founded in 1903 by a popular working class leader, Father George Gapon. Gapon collaborated in secret with the Police Department (the Okhrana), which believed this is the way to control the workers movement. Rutenberg became Gapon’s friend, which made him a noticeable figure in the S.R. party.