Yitzhak Navon, Israel's first Jerusalem-born president
Born in Jerusalem on April 9, 1921 to a Sephardic family with a tradition of raising rabbis and roots in the city for over 300 years, Yitzhak Navon went on to become the fifth president of Israel, and the first that was born in the land of Israel. Following a childhood in what is now the neighborhood of Nachalot, Navon served as the Haganah pre-state Jewish military force's brass, and like Teddy Kollek, Jerusalem's beloved former mayor, Navon's political career began thanks to his association with David Ben-Gurion, for whom Navon served as both political secretary and bureau chief. In 1963, Navon directed the cultural pision of Israel's Ministry of Education and Culture, and two years later, he was elected to the Knesset.
It was 1978 when Navon moved with his wife, Ofira, and two small children (another presidential first) into the president's residence, known as Beit HaNassi in Hebrew. In 1980, Navon reached another milestone when he visited Egypt, becoming the first Israeli president to visit an Arab state. Not content to remain merely a figure-head, as president, Navon campaigned for a judicial commission to evaluate the moral standing of Israel's military, while Ofira worked to promote the welfare of Israel's children.
Indeed, politics remained Navon's true calling, and in 1983, he turned down the opportunity to run for a second term as president in order to run for Knesset once again. As a native Arabic speaker, thanks to his pre-state roots and Middle Eastern ancestry, Navon was popular with both Arab and Sephardic Jewish voters, many of whom, like Navon, spoke Arabic at home - so popular, in fact, that Labor Chairman Shimon Peres, who later became Israel's ninth president, felt pressure to relinquish the chairmanship to Navon. Luckily for Peres, Navon turned it down.
Navon's return to the Knesset in 1984 lasted until his retirement in 1992. During this time, he served as Minister of Education and Culture from 1984-1990. Culture, in fact, clearly served as Navon's second calling, as he is the author of two musicals based on Sephardic folklore, both of which were performed at Israel's national Habimah Theater in Tel Aviv, and a book entitled The Six Days and the Seven Gates. Even after his retirement from the political realm, he remained active with local cultural institutions, including the Jerusalem Rubin Academy of Music and Dance, the coexistence-promoting Abraham Fund, the Neot Kedumim biblical nature reserve in the Judean Hills and the National Authority for Ladino.
2000+ tips and recommendations
Alright, we'll be the first to admit it. Jerusalem's often chilly and often damp winters don't exactly exude...
In a region known for being one of the first in which early humans settled after leaving Africa, and in a city populated...
Looking for a place to begin your morning in luxury and style? Look no further than the American Colony Hotel, which offers...
Jerusalem, the city where kings ruled and sultans sat is no stranger to luxury. Today, even the visiting yeoman can find...
Jewish tradition holds that in the times of the First and Second Temples, all the Jewish people would gather in Jerusalem...
Technically, it's possible to visit Jerusalem without going to the Old City, but it would be hard to say you'd...
Looking for a place to begin your morning in luxury and style? Look no further than the American Colony Hotel, which offers...
The faithful may rhapsodize about the spiritual highs to be reached in the Old City; culture cognoscenti groove on the...
Once upon a time, options for eating out in Jerusalem were limited to local common phenomena such as falafel and schwarma,...
No results to show
|
Text text text
|
||
