David Amar (1920–2000) was a Moroccan businessman, leader of the Moroccan Jewish community, politician, and philanthropist.

Early life

David Amar was born in

Settat Settat ( ar, سطات, siṭṭāt, ber, ⵥⴻⵟⵟⴰⵜ, ẓeṭṭat) is a city in Morocco between the national capital Rabat and Marrakesh. Settat is located by road south of the centre of Casablanca, roughly an hour's drive. It is the cap ...

, Morocco.

Business career

Amar was the head of Omnium Nord-Africain, Morocco's largest conglomerate, until he resigned in January 1986, and was replaced by King Hassan's son-in-law Fouad Felalli. The circumstances of this were unclear and may have been due to retirement, or to a loss of influence, and Amar sold all of his shares in the company.

Political career

Amar was president of the Jewish community in

Kenitra Kenitra ( ar, القُنَيْطَرَة, , , ; ber, ⵇⵏⵉⵟⵔⴰ, Qniṭra; french: Kénitra) is a city in north western Morocco, formerly known as Port Lyautey from 1932 to 1956. It is a port on the Sebou River, Sebou river, has a popul ...

, which was where he started his business career. He established connections with Moroccan nationalists, which helped him obtain the position of secretary general of the

Conseil des Communautés Israélites du Maroc The Council of Jewish Communities of Morocco (CCIM) is a central organization for Moroccan Jews established in 1947 during the French protectorate, in the context of the colonial government's post-World War II reforms attempting to quell the Jewis ...

(CCIM) after Moroccan independence in 1956. Amar was involved in

Operation Yachin Operation Yakhin was an operation to secretly emigrate Moroccan Jews to Israel, conducted by Israel's Mossad between November 1961 and spring 1964. About 97,000 left for Israel by plane and ship from Casablanca and Tangier via France and Italy. ...

, in which 97,000

Moroccan Jews Moroccan Jews ( ar, اليهود المغاربة, al-Yahūd al-Maghāriba he, יהודים מרוקאים, Yehudim Maroka'im) are Jews who live in or are from Morocco. Moroccan Jews constitute an ancient community dating to Roman times. Jews b ...

emigrated to Israel in 1961 to 1964. For 26 years, from 1965 to 1986 (at least), Amar was president of the Council of Moroccan Jewish Communities. He was also president of the World Assembly of Moroccan Jewry. In 1965, Amar was a member of the Chamber of Moroccan Counselors. At the time of the 1971 coup, Amar briefly fled abroad, due to his closeness to

King Hassan II Hassan II ( ar, الحسن الثاني, translit=al-Ḥasan aṯ-ṯhānī;), with the prefix "Mulay" before his enthronement 9 July 1929 – 23 July 1999) was the List of rulers of Morocco, King of Morocco from 1961 until his death in 1999. H ...

. In 1984, Amar was made an Officer in the

Order of the Throne The Order of the Throne (Arabic: ''Wissam al-Arch'', French: ''Ordre du Trône'') is a state decoration of the Kingdom of Morocco awarded for distinguished services of a civil or military nature. The Order was instituted on 16 May 1963 by King H ...

by King Hassan.

Philanthropy

He funded the restoration of the North Africa Jewish Heritage Center in Jerusalem, which was named the David Amar Worldwide North Africa Jewish Heritage Center in his honour.

Personal life

In 1965, his daughter Annie-Claude Amar (died 6 August 1993) married Raphael Cohen (later known as Raphael Edery, a member of the

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

from 1981–99 and a government minister), an oil company engineer, in the presence of two members of the Moroccan Cabinet, several former Ministers and the National Police Chief. His daughter Josabeth "Babette" Amar had three children with her first husband, and after a divorce married American businessman Paul J. Fribourg, and had four more children. His son Daniel Amar is a French-Jewish businessman, who owns stakes in Israel Salt Industries and

Bank Hapoalim Bank Hapoalim ( he, בנק הפועלים lit. ''The Workers' Bank'') is one of Israel's largest banks. History The bank was established in 1921 by the ''Histadrut'', the Israeli trade union congress (lit. "General Federation of Laborers in the ...

. Amar lived in a villa in "Casablanca's wealthiest district".

References

1920 births 2000 deaths 20th-century Moroccan Jews People from Casablanca People from Settat {{Morocco-bio-stub