Zvi Yaron Dead at 54

Zvi Yaron (Singer), well known writer and broadcaster and former spokesman of the Jewish Agency and World Zionist Organization, died suddenly here last night at the age of 54. He suffered a heart attack in the course of a radio broadcast.

German-born, Yaron resided in Britain before and during World War II and after the war made aliya to Kibbutz Lavie in the Galilee. He entered the WZO as an official of the Torah Education Department but, with his winning way with people and his exemplary eloquence, soon made his mark and was selected spokesman for the entire organization, a post he held until two years ago.

Beyond his regular duties, Yaron found time for scholarly work and over the years became an acknowledged authority on the often esoteric works of Rabbi Avraham Hacohen Kook, first Chief Rabbi of Palestine. Yaron, a political dove, found in Kook’s writings none of the bases for Gush Emunim-type right-wing nationalism that others claim to see in it, and, as founder of the “Oz Veshalom” circle of religious doves, Yaron led an Orthodox counter-attack in recent years against the Gush. Since resigning as Jewish Agency-WZO spokesman, Yaron had edited the WZO’s prestigious cultural quarterly, “Forum.”