BICOM

Yitzhak Navon, the fifth President of the State of Israel, was laid to rest yesterday in Jerusalem’s Mt Herzl state cemetery at a funeral attended by political leaders and cultural figures from across Israeli society.

Eulogising Mr Navon, President Reuven Rivlin said “You were a man of the people and above the rest – a beacon that illuminates when the way is not clear enough. When you arrive for the last time, the president’s residence in Israel, on behalf of the people of Israel, on behalf of the presidents of Israel throughout history, we separate from you today.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Mr Navon “the jewel in the crown of Jerusalem”, while former President Shimon Peres said “People loved him because he stayed steadfast in his path… As minister of education, he was happy when eradicating illiteracy and to spread the word of Torah [Jewish religious knowledge] to those who wished”.

Yitzhak Navon (1921-2015) was Israel’s president from 1978-1983. His father’s family moved to Israel in the 17^th century from Constantinople, and he was both the first Sephardi President of Israel and the first to be born in Jerusalem. Mr Navon studied Arabic and Islamic Studies at Hebrew University. He worked as an intelligence officer and hunted Nazis in South America.

Mr Navon served as political secretary and bureau chief to Israel’s first Prime Minister, David ben-Gurion, and his successor Moshe Sharett.

A long obituary of Mr Navon in today’s Daily Telegraph notes his important role after the 1982 Lebanon War, pressuring Menahem Begin’s government to establish a Commission of Inquiry into the Phalangist murders at Sabra and Shatilla. Following the Egypt-Israel peace deal, Mr Navon addressed the Egyptian Parliament in 1979 – speaking in Arabic.

The Telegraph piece also notes Mr Navon’s commitment to increasing public literacy, both as Director of the Education Ministry and later as Education Minister himself.

Navon was also a poet, playwright and patron of the arts.

He died on Saturday, 7 November.