NAVON, YITZHAK

(1921- )

Israel's fifthpresident. He was born inJerusalemto prominent Sephardi (seeORIENTAL JEWS) lineage, the Navon family, one of the oldest and most distinguished Jerusalem Sephardi families. On his father's side, he came from a wealthy Sephardi family that arrived inPalestinefrom Constantinople (Turkey) in the 17th century. On his maternal side, he is of Moroccan background.Navon received aneducationatreligiousschools and at theHebrew University of Jerusalem, where he studiedHebrewliterature, Arabic, Islamic culture, and pedagogy. In 1951, he became political secretary to Foreign MinisterMoshe Sharett. He served as head ofPrime Minister David Ben-Gurion's office from 1952 to 1963. In 1965, after resigning from the civil service, he was elected to theKnesseton theRafiticket. In 1972, he was elected chairman of the WorldZionistCouncil. Navon served from 1978 to 1983 as the fifthpresidentof Israel. He became deputy prime minister and minister of education and culture in the 1984Government of National Unityand retained those posts in the government established in December 1988. He remained in the Knesset until 1992 and then left politics. He tended to combine liberal values andIsrael Labor Partysocialist ideology with dovish views onforeign policyissues. Navon often expressed his views publicly during his tenure as president and was a very popular figure in that position.