Avraham Harman; Israeli Diplomat
Avraham Harman, a former Israeli ambassador to Washington who played a major role in establishing the Jewish state’s alliance with Washington and chancellor of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, has died of pneumonia, the university announced Monday.
The London-born Harman died Sunday. He was 77.
Harman immigrated to Israel in 1938 and entered the diplomatic service when Israel won independence in 1948. He was Israel’s first consul in Montreal, then ambassador to Washington from 1959 to 1968.
He was closely involved in diplomatic contacts with the Lyndon B. Johnson Administration in May and June, 1967, when Arab armies massed on Israel’s borders and Israel prepared the preemptive strike of the Six-Day War.
After the war, when France withdrew as Israel’s main backer and cut off arms supplies, Harman helped lay the foundations of the alliance that turned the United States into Israel’s chief political and military supporter.
He successfully argued that since the Soviet Union was supporting the Arab nations militarily, it was to the United State’s advantage to back Israel.
Harman was president of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem from 1968 until 1983, a period of great expansion, and its chancellor until his death.
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