Ya'akov Arnon ( he, יעקב ארנון; 1913–1995) was a Dutch Israeli

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...

and government official in the 1960s who later became active in the Israeli peace movement.

Biography

Born Jacob "Jaap" van Amerongen in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

to a well off family of Dutch Jewish diamond dealers, Arnon studied economics in his native city. He survived

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

by concealing his Jewish identity. After World War II he led the Zionist Federation of the Netherlands until 1948 when he emigrated 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 ...

after the war, changed his name and joined the Ministry of Finance under

Levi Eshkol Levi Eshkol ( he, לֵוִי אֶשְׁכּוֹל ;‎ 25 October 1895 – 26 February 1969), born Levi Yitzhak Shkolnik ( he, לוי יצחק שקולניק, links=no), was an Israeli statesman who served as the third Prime Minister of Israe ...

to become the new ministry's director-general. In 1965, he initiated policies that led to a serious

recession In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction when there is a general decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be triggered by various ...

in Israel."The Makings of History / On a mission to save Israel"
''Ha'aretz'', February 11, 2010 He subsequently served as Chairman of the Board of the

Israel Electric Corporation Israel Electric Corporation ( he, חברת החשמל לישראל, abbreviation: IEC) is the largest supplier of electrical power in Israel and the Palestinian territories. The IEC builds, maintains, and operates power generation stations, sub- ...

. After the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 Ju ...

, Arnon co-ordinated a committee of government officials that attempted to implement an "enlightened occupation" of the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

and

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...

but which laid the foundations of the ongoing

Occupation Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

. In 1975, he joined with two other dissident establishment figures,

Uri Avnery Uri Avnery ( he, אורי אבנרי, also transliterated Uri Avneri; 10 September 1923 – 20 August 2018) was an Israeli writer, politician, and founder of the Gush Shalom peace movement. A member of the Irgun as a teenager, Avnery sat for tw ...

and

Mattityahu Peled Mattityahu "Matti" Peled ( he, מתתיהו "מתי" פלד, born Mattityahu Ifland on 20 July 1923, died 10 March 1995) was a well-known Israeli public figure who was at various periods of his life a professional military man who reached the ran ...

, to found the Israeli Council for Israeli-Palestinian Peace. The ICIPP Charter called for Israeli withdrawal from the territories occupied in 1967 and the creation of an independent Palestinian state in these territories,

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

being shared between them. At the time this was considered a very radical plan, which the ICIPP was the first Zionist organization to support. The ICIPP sought to promote private and unofficial dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians in as many ways as possible, but also to try to bring about official negotiations between the Government of Israel and the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Arnon helped found the Sheli party prior to the 1977 elections but as the seventh candidate on the party list was not 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 ...

after the party won only 6 seats. He was also a candidate for the

Progressive List for Peace The Progressive List for Peace ( he, הרשימה המתקדמת לשלום, ''HaReshima HaMitkademet LeShalom'', ar, القائمة التقدمية للسلام) was a left-wing political party in Israel. The party was formed from an alliance ...

in the 1984 elections and was the fourth candidate on the party list; however, only 2 MKs were elected. In 1980, Arnon went on a clandestine mission to

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

on the invitation of King

Hassan II Hassan, Hasan, Hassane, Haasana, Hassaan, Asan, Hassun, Hasun, Hassen, Hasson or Hasani may refer to: People * Hassan (given name), Arabic given name and a list of people with that given name *Hassan (surname), Arabic, Jewish, Irish, and Scotti ...

along with Avnery, Peled and PLO liaison

Issam Sartawi Issam Sartawi ( ar, عصام السرطاوي; 1935 – April 10, 1983) was a senior member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). He was assassinated on April 10, 1983. Medical background Issam Sartawi attended university in Baghdad, gr ...

. His Hebrew-language biography, ''They Called Him Jaap: Jacob Arnon from Amsterdam to Jerusalem'', was published in 2010 by Hakibbutz Hameuchad. Yitzhak Rabin biographer Yossi Goldstein wrote its first section, and Aryeh Dayan, author of a book about the history of Shas, wrote the part documenting Arnon's political activity with people from the radical left. In 1991, he received the award of

Yakir Yerushalayim Yakir Yerushalayim ( he, יַקִּיר יְרוּשָׁלַיִם; en, Worthy Citizen of Jerusalem) is an annual citizenship prize in Jerusalem, inaugurated in 1967. The prize is awarded annually by the municipality of the City of Jerusalem to o ...

from the city of Jerusalem.City of Jerusalem official web site Arnon died in Jerusalem on October 7, 1995 at the age of 82. A street was named after him in Jerusalem shortly after his death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arnon, Yaakov 1913 births 1995 deaths 20th-century Dutch economists Dutch emigrants to Israel Dutch Jews Dutch Zionists Israeli anti-war activists 20th-century Israeli economists Israeli–Palestinian peace process Israeli people of Dutch-Jewish descent Politicians from Amsterdam

Biography

See also

References