Politicsאברהם הרמן

Abraham Harman

Avraham Harman was an Israeli diplomat who served as Israel's ambassador to the United States from 1959 to 1968 and as president of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem from 1968 to 1983.

1914 to 1992Ambassador to the United StatesPresident of the Hebrew UniversityRebuilding the Mount Scopus campus

Born: 7 November 1914, London
Died: 23 February 1992, Jerusalem
Occupation: diplomat
Education: Wadham College

Abraham Harman was born in 1914 in London

Harman was born in London in 1914 to Tzipora and Israel Herman. His father, an ordained rabbi and merchant, was a Zionist activist who promoted the revival of Hebrew. Harman studied in a heder, learned Hebrew from his father and was active in a Zionist youth movement.

In 1935 he completed studies in law at Wadham College, Oxford. He then joined the staff of the Zionist Federation in London. He immigrated to Mandate Palestine in 1938 and later worked for the Zionist Organization in South Africa and in Jerusalem.

After 1948 he joined the foreign service. In 1949 he became Israel's first consul general in Montreal, and from 1953 to 1955 he was consul general in New York. From 1959 to 1968 he was ambassador to the United States, and he kept in contact with Foreign Minister Abba Eban during the 1967 Six-Day War.

From 1968 to 1983 he was president of the Hebrew University, where he oversaw the rebuilding of the Mount Scopus campus. He then served as its chancellor and headed the Israel Public Council for Soviet Jewry. He died in Jerusalem in 1992 and was buried at Har HaMenuchot.