Background
Rosen was born in Berlin, Germany.
Rosen was born in Berlin, Germany.
He studied law in universities in Freiburg and Berlin, graduating in 1908, and later served in the Imperial German Army in World War I. Always active in Zionist circles, Rosen was Chairman of Zionist Federation in Germany from 1920–1923, and eventually immigrated to Palestine in 1926 where he practiced as a lawyer and helped create the Central European Immigrants Association.
He was also leader of the Independent Liberals during the 1960s. In 1948 he was among the signatories of the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel, which he helped drafting. In the 1949 elections, the New Aliyah Party became the Progressive Party, winning Rosen a seat in the Knesset.
In 1950, when David Ben-Gurion was unable to form a coalition, the President gave the task to Rosen, as head of the Progressive Party.
Rosen handed the reins to Mapai, recognizing its indispensability. Rosen became the country"s first Minister of Justice, an office to which he brought a strong reputation for intellect and probity.
He retained his seat and Ministerial position in the 1951, 1955 and 1959 elections. Soon after the 1959 election the Progressive Party merged with the General Zionists to form the Liberal Party.
In order to consolidate opposition to Mapai"s hegemony within Israeli politics, the Liberal Party merged with Herut to form Gahal.
Rosen, however, was unhappy with the merger, and led a breakaway of seven MKs to found the Independent Liberals. He was elected to the sixth Knesset but resigned from the Knesset on December 23, 1968, and retired from politics. His departure from the political stage was greeted by one newspaper as, "The end of the aristocracy" and in another by a cartoon captioned: "Another Channukah miracle!.
An MK resigns because of age."
On his death Pinhas Rosen received a state funeral.
In 1942 Rosen founded the New Aliyah Party, and was elected to the Assembly of Representatives on its list in 1944.