Yitzhak Rachamim Navon ( he, יצחק נבון; 9 April 1921 – 6 November 2015
) was an Israeli politician, diplomat, playwright, and author. He served as the
fifth President of Israel between 1978 and 1983 as a member of the centre-left
Alignment party. He was the first Israeli president born in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
and the first
Sephardi Jew to serve in that office.
Biography
Navon was born in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
to Yosef and Miryam Navon, a descendant of a
Sephardi Jewish
Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefa ...
family of
rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
s, and had ancestry in Jerusalem going back centuries. On his father's side, he was descended from Sephardi Jews who settled in
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
, after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492. His ancestors, the
Baruch Mizrahi family immigrated from Turkey to Jerusalem in 1670. On his mother's side, he was descended from the renowned
Moroccan-Jewish kabbalist rabbi
Chaim ibn Attar
Chaim ibn Attar or Ḥayyim ben Moshe ibn Attar ( ar, حاييم بن موشي بن عطار, he, חיים בן משה בן עטר; b. - 7 July 1743) also known as the Or ha-Ḥayyim after his popular commentary on the Torah, was a Talmudist ...
, who
immigrated
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...
to
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
and settled in Jerusalem in 1742.
In 1924, the Navon family moved from Jaffa Road to the Ohel Moshe neighbourhood in
Nachlaot
Nachlaot ( he, נחלאות, also ''Naḥlaʾoth'') is a cluster of 23 courtyard neighborhoods in central Jerusalem surrounding the Mahane Yehuda Market. It is known for its narrow, winding lanes, old-style housing, hidden courtyards and many sma ...
. In 1932, they moved to
Sheikh Badr
Sheikh Badr ( ar, تلة الشيخ بدر, translit=Talla aš-Šayḫ Badr, lit=Hill of Sheikh Badr ; he, שייח' באדר) was a Palestinian Arab village on a hilltop in west Jerusalem. The Haganah expelled its population during the 1947� ...
near the western entrance to Jerusalem, relocating to
Mekor Baruch
Mekor Baruch ( he, מקור ברוך, lit., "blessed source" or "fountain of blessing") also spelled Makor Baruch, is a neighborhood in Jerusalem. The neighborhood is bordered by Malkhei Yisrael Street to the north, Sarei Yisrael Street to the wes ...
in 1936.
He attended the Doresh Tziyon and Takhemoni elementary schools and the
Hebrew University
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...
high school.
Navon studied Arabic and
Islamic studies
Islamic studies refers to the academic study of Islam, and generally to academic multidisciplinary "studies" programs—programs similar to others that focus on the history, texts and theologies of other religious traditions, such as Easter ...
at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He taught
Hebrew literature for several years. He was fluent in Arabic, Hebrew,
Ladino, French and English.
Navon was a member of the
Haganah's Arab Intelligence Unit and worked undercover in Jerusalem. During the war, he listened to wiretapped conversations of the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
. Later he was sent by the Israeli foreign service to
Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
and
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
to track down
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
s.
Navon was married to
Ofira Navon
Ofira Resnikov Navon ( he, אופירה נבון; January 1, 1936 – August 22, 1993) was the wife of Yitzhak Navon, the fifth President of Israel.
Biography
Ofira Navon was born in Tel Aviv to Batya and Eliezer Resnikov, both originally from Rus ...
née Resnikov, who died of cancer in 1993. They had a son, Erez, and an adopted daughter, Naama. Navon died in Jerusalem at the age of 94 on 6 November, 2015.
Political career
In 1951, Navon became the political secretary of Israel's first prime minister,
David Ben-Gurion
David Ben-Gurion ( ; he, דָּוִד בֶּן-גּוּרִיּוֹן ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary national founder of the State of Israel and the first prime minister of Israel. Adopting the nam ...
. The following year he was appointed Ben-Gurion's bureau chief. He remained in this position under Prime Minister
Moshe Sharett
Moshe Sharett ( he, משה שרת, born Moshe Chertok (Hebrew: ) 15 October 1894 – 7 July 1965) was a Russian-born Israeli politician who served as Israel's second prime minister from 1954 to 1955. A member of Mapai, Sharett's term was b ...
. His judgment was crucial to advice the government received during the
Suez Crisis and
Lavon Affair.
In 1963 Ben-Gurion resigned as
prime minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
and Navon became a civil service department head at the Ministry of Education and Culture. Navon began a long campaign fighting illiteracy in Israel, which affected about 12% of the Jewish population.
It's a shame and disgrace that more than 200,000 adults in Israel do not know how to read or write in any language, and we must do everything possible to erase this stain from us.
Navon ordered the mobilisation of hundreds of female soldiers serving compulsory national service to teach illiterate adults to read and write Hebrew. Two years later, Navon was elected to 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 ...
as a member of Ben-Gurion's
Rafi. The new party which had dared challenge the Mapai establishment was driven by 'modernization and scientification'; it merged into the
Israeli Labor Party
The Israeli Labor Party ( he, מִפְלֶגֶת הָעֲבוֹדָה הַיִּשְׂרְאֵלִית, ), commonly known as HaAvoda ( he, הָעֲבוֹדָה, , The Labor), is a social democratic and Zionist political party in Israel. The p ...
(part of the
Alignment) in 1968. But the labour elite of which Navon was one, would in the future dictate the Left's agenda. Navon served as deputy
speaker of the Knesset
The Speaker of the Knesset ( he, יוֹשֵׁב רֹאשׁ הכנסת, Yoshev Rosh HaKnesset, Chairman of the Knesset) is the presiding officer of the Knesset, the unicameral legislature of Israel. The Speaker also acts as President of Israel whe ...
and chairman of the Knesset Committee on Foreign and Defense Affairs.
President of Israel (1978–83)
On 19 April 1978, Navon was elected by the Knesset to serve as the fifth
President of Israel
The president of the State of Israel ( he, נְשִׂיא מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, Nesi Medinat Yisra'el, or he, נְשִׂיא הַמְדִינָה, Nesi HaMedina, President of the State) is the head of state of Israel. The posi ...
. The race was uncontested and Navon received 86 votes in the 120-member Knesset with 23 members casting blank votes. He assumed office on 29 May 1978 and was the first president with small children to move into
Beit HaNassi
The President's House, known in Hebrew as Beit HaNassi ('בֵּית הַנָּשִׂיא) and Mishkan HaNassi (מִשְׁכָּן הַנָּשִׂיא), is the official residence of the President of Israel. It is located in the Talbiya neighborho ...
, the presidential residence in Jerusalem. His wife, Ofira, was active in promoting the welfare of Israeli children.
As a president, Navon met with Egyptian president
Anwar Sadat
Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat, (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 ...
and was influential in the peace talks. According to Haaretz newspaper, he achieved more in one visit than five by Israel's Prime Minister.
Although the Israeli presidency is a ceremonial office, Navon was an outspoken advocate of a judicial
commission of inquiry to probe Israel's role in the
Sabra and Shatila massacre
The Sabra and Shatila massacre (also known as the Sabra and Chatila massacre) was the killing of between 460 and 3,500 civilians, mostly Palestinians and Lebanese Shiites, by the militia of the Lebanese Forces, a Maronite Christian Lebanese ...
perpetrated by
Lebanese Falangists in 1982.
Minister of education
In 1983, Navon turned down the opportunity to run for a second term of office. Instead he returned to politics, the only Israeli ex-president to do so. When the polls showed that Navon was more popular than Labor chairman
Shimon Peres, Peres was pressured to step aside and allow Navon to take over the party leadership. Navon's fluency in the Arabic language made him especially popular among Arab and Mizrahi voters. But Navon did not accept the chairmanship. In 1984, he was elected to the Knesset and served as minister of education and culture from 1984 to 1990. Navon was Minister of Education during the first Intifada. During the summer of 1989 there were riots and protests. Jerusalem parents appealed to Navon by petition, to reopen their schools. Navon a socialistic Jew was impressed by the legal implications: "This action is immoral and ineffective and will cause irreversible damage in the long and short run to Palestinian children and to our own." As the violence escalated moderates suffered at the hands of extremists.
Remaining in the Knesset until 1992, he briefly left politics. Navon emerged from retirement to chair a Commission of Inquiry on Israeli medical authorities' controversial practice of discarding blood donated by Israelis of Ethiopian origin due to concerns about
AIDS transmission.
Literary career
Navon wrote two musicals based on Sephardic folklore: ''Romancero Sefardi'' (1968) and ''Bustan Sefardi'' ("Sephardic Garden" 1970), which were successfully performed at
Habimah
The Habima Theatre ( he, תיאטרון הבימה ''Te'atron HaBima'', lit. "The Stage Theatre") is the national theatre of Israel and one of the first Hebrew language theatres. It is located in Habima Square in the center of Tel Aviv.
History ...
, Israel's national theater in
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...
.
He is also the author of ''The Six Days and the Seven Gates'' (1979), a modern legend of the
reunification of Jerusalem, first published in Hebrew by Shikmona Publishing Company and later translated into English.
Awards and recognition
In 2003, the Spanish government granted Navon an award at Herzliya.
The
Jerusalem - Yitzchak Navon Station in central Jerusalem, Israel, is named after Navon and honors his history in the country. The station is a meeting place of people from all over the country, and tourists, that need a fast train to get to different cities in Israel.
References
Bibliography
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External links
Yitzhak NavonIsrael Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Yitzhak Navonby Susan Hattis Rolef, from Encyclopaedia Judaica via encyclopedia.com
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Some songs with lyrics and/or music by Yitzhak NavonAn obituary in Israeli newspaper Haaretz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Navon, Yitzhak
1921 births
2015 deaths
20th-century Sephardi Jews
21st-century Sephardi Jews
Israeli Sephardi Jews
Alignment (Israel) politicians
Rafi (political party) politicians
Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni
Israeli male dramatists and playwrights
Israeli people of Moroccan-Jewish descent
Israeli people of Turkish-Jewish descent
Jewish dramatists and playwrights
Jewish Israeli politicians
Members of the 6th Knesset (1965–1969)
Members of the 7th Knesset (1969–1974)
Members of the 8th Knesset (1974–1977)
Members of the 9th Knesset (1977–1981)
Members of the 11th Knesset (1984–1988)
Members of the 12th Knesset (1988–1992)
Ministers of Education of Israel
People from Jerusalem
Presidents of Israel
Judaeo-Spanish-language writers