Date of Birth: April 9, 1921

Term in Office: 1978-1983, served as the fifth President of the State of Israel
Education: Graduated the Hebrew University. Accredited in Pedagogy, Islamic culture, Arabic language and Hebrew literature
Other Major Public Positions: Prime Minister's Chief of Staff, Minister of Education, Knesset Member and Chairman of the Zionist Executive Committee 
Yitzhak Navon was born in Jerusalem on the first of the month of Nissan 5681 (1921) to an old Jerusalem family. His father was a scion of exiles from Spain who arrived in Jerusalem from Turkey in 1670, and his mother Hannah was from the Ben Attar family that arrived in Jerusalem in 1884. In 1963 he married psychologist Ofira Erez. The couple had two children. Through the years Navon combined public activity, political activity and writing, which centered mostly on preserving the cultural heritage of Sephardic and Mizrachi Jewry. In 1978 he was elected to serve as the fifth President of the State of Israel. He served in office until 1983. After finishing his term he returned to public and political activity. 

Public Activity 

During the War of Independence Navon headed the Arab division at the Information Section (Shin-Yod) of the Haganah. After the war's end he served as second secretary at Israel's delegations to Uruguay and Argentina. In 1951 he served as secretary to Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett, and from 1952-1963 he served as Chief of Staff to the Prime Ministers of that period - Moshe Sharett and David Ben Gurion. From 1963-1965 he served as head of the culture division of the Education and Culture Ministry. While serving in this capacity, he initiated the "Illiteracy Eradication Operation" which was aimed at helping adults acquire an education.

From 1965-1978 he served as a member of Knesset, first with the Rafi Party and later after the unification of Rafi with Ahdut HaAvoda and Mapai he served on behalf of the Labor Party. During his service in the Knesset, he served as Temporary Speaker, as Deputy Speaker and as Chairman of the Foreign and Defense Committee. He also served as Chairman of the Zionist Executive Committee. 

In 1978, he was elected to serve as the fifth President of the State of Israel. During his term in office, Navon spent much time touring the country: the cities, neighborhoods, the agricultural settlements, development towns and minority settlements, and won tremendous personal popularity. His term in office was characterized by political, social and ethnic tensions throughout the country, and this period also witnessed the outbreak of First Lebanon War.

As President, Navon worked tirelessly to build bridges between the ethnic groups in Israel, between religious and secular Jews, between Arabs and Jews and between residents of the outlying areas and the center of the country, and to allay high tensions following the evacuation of Jewish settlements in the Sinai Peninsula pursuant to the peace agreement with Egypt.

In 1980, he was a guest of Anwar Sadat in an impressive state visit to Egypt. During the Lebanon War of 1982, following the massacre committed by the Christian Phalange militia in the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila, Navon demanded that an official inquiry committee be convened to ascertain the circumstances of the massacre, a demand which led to the formation of the Kahn Committee.

In 1983, he ended his term as President, and later returned to political life and served as a Knesset Member for the Labor Party, as Deputy Prime Minister and as Minister of Education. As Minister of Education he initiated the "Culture Basket" Endeavor, strengthened the study of Arabic and the teaching of Eastern Jewish heritage and acted to emphasize democratic values and Jewish-Arabic co-existence

Cultural Activity