Yosef Dayan (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: יוסף דיין; born 1945) is a Mexican-

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 ...

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

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 ...

and right-wing Israeli monarchist and nationalist, who claims to be the most senior heir to the Davidic line. He is the founder and director of

Malchut Israel Modern: ''Malḵūt'' , Tiberian: ''Malḵūṯ'' , Ashkenazi: ''Malḵūs'' , 'kingdom'), Malkhut Malkhuth or Malchus is the tenth of the sephirot in the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. It sits at the bottom of the Tree, below Yesod. This sephirah ...

, a religious right-wing political party which advocates for a monarchy in Israel. In 2004, Dayan became a founding member of the newly reconstituted

Sanhedrin The Sanhedrin (Hebrew and Aramaic: סַנְהֶדְרִין; Greek: , ''synedrion'', 'sitting together,' hence ' assembly' or 'council') was an assembly of either 23 or 71 elders (known as "rabbis" after the destruction of the Second Temple), ...

. He is the author of several books in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

, and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

and has worked to translate modern Spanish literature into Hebrew.

Biography

Yosef Dayan was born in 1945 in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

to Sephardic Jewish parents from Aleppo, Syria, where the Dayan family had lived for some seven hundred years. Dayan's family trace their ancestry in a direct paternal line to the

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

Babylonian

Exilarchs The exilarch was the leader of the Jewish community in Persian Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq) during the era of the Parthians, Sasanians and Abbasid Caliphate up until the Mongol invasion of Baghdad in 1258, with intermittent gaps due to ongoing ...

, who in part were direct paternal descendants of the Davidic line. He and his family paternally descends from Hasan ben Zakkai, the younger brother of the Exilarch David ben Zakkai (d. 940), whose genealogy is recounted in the rabbinic work ''

Seder Olam Zutta Seder Olam Zutta (Hebrew: ) is an anonymous chronicle from 803 CE, called "Zuta" (= "smaller," or "younger") to distinguish it from the older ''Seder Olam Rabbah.'' This work is based upon, and to a certain extent completes and continues, the olde ...

'' which traces the line of the Exliarchs back to King David. One of Hasan's descendants Solomon ben Azariah ha-Nasi ('the Prince') settled in Aleppo where the family became dayanim ('judges') of the city and thus assumed the surname Dayan. In 1933, Yitzak Dayan, a cousin of Yosef Dayan's father was considered by some Orthodox rabbis to be the heir and titular "

King of Israel This article is an overview of the kings of the United Kingdom of Israel as well as those of its successor states and classical period kingdoms ruled by the Hasmonean dynasty and Herodian dynasty. Kings of Ancient Israel and Judah The Hebr ...

". After his death none of his three sons pursued their father's dynastic claims. After Yosef Dayan made aliyah to Israel in 1968, he was encouraged by several Orthodox rabbis to be an active claimant to the Davidic line. Soon after this, Dayan became a member of the right-wing

Kach movement Kach ( he, כך, lit=Thus) was a radical Orthodox Jewish, ultranationalist political party in Israel, existing from 1971 to 1994. Founded by Rabbi Meir Kahane in 1971, based on his Jewish-Orthodox-nationalist ideology (subsequently dubbed Kahan ...

, where he was instrumental in establishing the

Hebron Hills The Hebron Hills, also known as Mount Hebron ( ar, جبل الخليل, translit=Jabal al-Khalīl, he, הר חברון, translit=Har Hevron), are a mountain ridge, geographic region, and geologic formation, comprising the southern part of the J ...

settlement of El-Nakam, which was destroyed on the orders of the then- Minister of Defense,

Moshe Arens Moshe Arens (27 December 1925 – 7 January 2019) was an Israeli aeronautical engineer, researcher, diplomat and Likud politician. A member of the Knesset between 1973 and 1992 and again from 1999 until 2003, he served as Minister of Defense thre ...

in 1982. Dayan later founded "Malchut Israel", a right-wing religious-political group in Israel advocating a return of the monarchy. In 2004, he became a member of the newly reconstituted

, a duplicate of the religious tribunal which convened during the time of the Second Temple, a group that had traditionally had seventy-one members. He is alleged to have participated in so-called "death curse" ceremonies or Pulsa diNura aimed at

Yitzhak Rabin Yitzhak Rabin (; he, יִצְחָק רַבִּין, ; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77, and from 1992 until h ...

and Ariel Sharon, presumably requesting divine retribution after those former prime ministers advocated Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian areas considered by Zionists to be inalienable parts of the

promised land The Promised Land ( he, הארץ המובטחת, translit.: ''ha'aretz hamuvtakhat''; ar, أرض الميعاد, translit.: ''ard al-mi'ad; also known as "The Land of Milk and Honey"'') is the land which, according to the Tanakh (the Hebrew ...

. He also supported Baruch Goldstein's (a fellow Meir Kahane disciple) terrorist actions in the

Cave of the Patriarchs Massacre The Cave of the Patriarchs massacre, also known as the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre or the Hebron massacre, was a shooting massacre carried out by Baruch Goldstein, an American-Israeli extremist and member of the far-right Kach movement. On 25 F ...

. His son, Hananel Dayan-Meged, refused to shake the hand of

Dan Halutz Dan Halutz ( he, דן חלוץ, ; born August 7, 1948) is an Israeli Air Force lieutenant general and former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces and commander of the Israeli Air Force. Halutz served as chief of staff in 2005–2007. Biog ...

, the (former) Chief of Staff of the

Israeli Defence Force The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branch ...

, while receiving the "President of Israel Excellence Citation" during the

Israeli Independence Day Independence Day ( he, יום העצמאות ''Yom Ha'atzmaut'', lit. "Day of Independence") is the national day of Israel, commemorating the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948. The day is marked by official and unofficial ceremonies ...

celebrations.Israel News (Efrat Weiss), 13 June 2006 http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3262634,00.html

References

External links

Malchut Yisra'el Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dayan, Yosef 1945 births Living people Israeli Sephardi Jews Israeli Orthodox Jews Israeli Kahanists Israeli monarchists Israeli people of Mexican-Jewish descent Israeli translators Mexican emigrants to Israel Mexican Sephardi Jews Translators from Spanish Translators to Hebrew