Israel Polack

Israel Polack ( _he. ישראל פולק; 1909-1993) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian, Chilean and Israeli textile industrialist. He is best known for creating and managing the Israel-based "Polgat" company.

Polack was born to a Jewish family in Borşa, Transylvania, and, in 1925, moved to Gura Humorului, Bukovina, and later to Cernăuţi. While in Cernăuţi, he studied at "yeshiva" and at a textile plant. In 1935, he founded an enterprise of its kind in the city.

After World War II, he emigrated to Chile where he founded a textile plant. In 1960, Pinhas Sapir, then Minister of Industry of Israel, invited Polack to establish a textile plant at Kiryat Gat. Polack's new company, "Polgat", grew into the largest textile, clothing and knitwear company in Israel. It eventually became a public corporation whose shares were traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

Because of his contributions to the State of Israel, Polack was awarded the Israel Prize in 1960. In 1992, he was honored by the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.