Asher Ben-Natan | |
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אשר בן נתן | |
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Director General of the Ministry of Defense | |
In office 1959–1965 | |
Appointed by | David Ben-Gurion |
Preceded by | Shimon Peres |
Succeeded by | Moshe Kasti |
Israeli Ambassador to Germany | |
In office 1965–1970 | |
Appointed by | Golda Meir |
Preceded by | Post established |
Succeeded by | Eliashiv Ben-Horin |
Israeli Ambassador to France | |
In office 1970–1974 | |
Appointed by | Abba Eban |
Preceded by | Walter Eytan |
Succeeded by | Mordechai Gazit |
Personal details | |
Born | Arthur Piernikartz February 15, 1921 Austria |
Died | June 17, 2014 |
Spouse | Erika |
Parent | Natan Piernikartz |
Asher Ben-Natan ( Hebrew: אשר בן נתן; February 15, 1921 – June 17, 2014) was an Israeli diplomat and a key figure in the country's defense and diplomacy fields. Ben-Natan led the search for Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, who was captured in 1960. [1] He became the Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Defense from 1959 until 1965. [1] Ben-Natan then served as the first Israeli Ambassador to Germany (then West Germany) from August 1965 until 1970. [2] [1] Ben-Natan was then appointed as Israel's Ambassador to France from 1970 until his retirement in 1974. [1]
Asher Ben-Natan was born Arthur Piernikartz in Vienna, Austria, on February 15, 1921. [1] His father, Natan Piernikartz, operated a clothing business in the Austrian capital. [1] He attended a Hebrew High School and was a member of the Young Macabbi. [1] His father bought five-acres of land in Mandatory Palestine in 1934 in response to the emergence of Nazi Germany and the growth of Antisemitism. [1] The family drew up plans to flee to Palestine in 1938 following the Anschluss of Austria. Asher Ben-Natan fled Austria first. He boarded a Panamanian-registered ship in Piraeus, Greece, from which he sailed to Palestine. [1] The ship dropped the passengers off at Tantura, where he swam to the beach. [1] He found work at a kibbutz and changed his name to Asher Ben-Natan in honor of his father. [1] His parents and sister arrived in Palestine from Austria a few months after his own arrival. Asher Ben-Natan married his wife Erika in 1940.
In 1978, he unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Tel Aviv. [3]