Yehuda Avner dies at 86: Tributes for former Ambassador
Tributes have been paid to Israel’s first UK- born ambassador after he passed away aged 86.
Yehuda Avner also served as advisor to prime ministers including Menachem Begin and Shimon Peres.
His diplomatic posts included as ambassador to the UK in the 1980s and Australia.
The Manchester-born Avner’s experiences led to his penning the acclaimed memoir The Prime Ministers.
Israel’s Ambassador in the UK, Daniel Taub told the Jewish News: “Yehuda Avner will be deeply missed as a consummate diplomat who represented Israel and a remarkable author who chronicled its history. When I was a student here in the UK, he was the first Israeli Ambassador I came to know, and in the years since I have been truly privileged to have enjoyed his guidance and friendship.”
Former UK Chief Rabbi, Lord Jonathan Sacks said:
“The passing of Yehuda Avner is a great loss to the whole Jewish people.”
“Now that Yehuda Avner’s life of dedicated service has come to an end, the highest accolade I can think to say of him is that he was an eved medinat Yisrael v’am Yisrael, a servant of the State of Israel and the Jewish people.”
He was a “wordsmith par excellence” and “deployed his words and his skills to great success on behalf of Israeli prime ministers.
“He will be sorely missed and we wish his family chayim aruchim, a long and blessed life.”
His son-in-law, David Sable, released a statement: saying it was with “deep sadness that I share with you the passing of Ambassador Yehuda Avner, Begin’s Shakespeare.”
Sable called him “an articulate champion of the Jewish people and the State, who took his last breaths, at home, in his beloved Jerusalem.”
He paid tribute to “a true servant of the Jewish people…in his role as advisor to the Generation of Legendary Leaders of Israel he was never political, never took personal gain, never shied from conflict”.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
