Yaakov Herzog

Yaakov Herzog (Hebrew: יעקב הרצוג) was an Israeli diplomat. He was born on March 21, 1921 in Dublin, Ireland and died in 1972 in Jerusalem.

Biography

Yaakov Herzog was the son of the second Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Israel, Isaac Herzog, and was the brother of the sixth President of Israel, Chaim Herzog. Yaakov Herzog grew up in Ireland, immigrated to Israel in 1937, and was ordained as a rabbi in the Harry Fischel Seminary in Jerusalem. Afterward he studied in Hebrew University in Jerusalem and in London University (?) for a law degree.

Herzog served in Shai in the Haganah. After the founding of the state of Israel, he served in the Foreign Affairs office in senior roles. From 1948 to 1954 he counseled on issues relating to Jerusalem in the Foreign Affairs office. From 1954 to 1957 he was the chief of the United States division of the Foreign Affairs office. He advised Prime Minister of Israel David Ben-Gurion on policy from 1956 to 1957.

From 1957 to 1960 Herzog was an emissary for the Israeli embassy in Washington D. C., and from 1960 to 1963 he served in the Israeli embassy in Canada.

Herzog contributed to improved relations with the Vatican after the Six Day War, and led diplomatic communications with King Hussein of Jordan. Between 1965 and Herzog's death in 1972, he served as the chief of staff (Hebrew: מנכ"ל) for the Prime Minister of Israel's office under the administrations of Levi Eshkol and Golda Meir. He earned a doctorate in international law from McGill University in Montreal. He declined an offer to serve as the Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom.

Herzog is well-known for a an argument on January 31, 1961, when he was the Israeli emissary to Canada, against the British antisemitic historian Arnold J. Toynbee, who compared the actions of the Israelis toward the Arabs in the Israeli War of Independence in 1948 to the actions of the Nazis against the Jews in the Holocaust.

Places named after Herzog

Many places of interest and educational institutions, especially in the Religious Zionism movement, perpetuate his memory. The first of these was the Kiryat Yaakov Herzog high school which prepares students for Midreshet Noam in Kfar Sava. It was founded in Elul of 5732 (August or September 1972) about half a year after Herzog's death. Also, Yaakov Herzog Center for the study of Judaism in Ein Tzurim, Herzog College for training of teachers in Alon Shevut, the Maalot Yaakov Yeshiva, and the law faculty at Bar-Ilan University, are all named in his memory.

Books written by Herzog

* A translation of Berakhot, Pe'ah and Demai was first printed in 1947 and reprinted in 1980.
* "About Israel and its land: an argument with Professor Arnold Toynbee". Jerusalem: Office of Education and Culture, 5735 (1974-1975).
* "A nation that lives alone". Tel Aviv: Maariv books, 1975.

Further reading (Hebrew)

*מיכאל בר זהר, צפנת פענח : חייו ומותו של נסיך יהודי : ד"ר יעקב הרצוג - ביוגרפיה, ידיעות ספרים, תל אביב, 2003

External links (Hebrew)

* [http://noar.education.gov.il/main/upload/docs/tarbut10.doc קטעים מוויכוחו של יעקב הרצוג עם ארנולד טוינבי]
* [http://www.merkazherzog.org.il/info/yakov_herzog.htm ביוגרפיה קצרה של יעקב הרצוג]