Aharon Mor
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Aharon Mor (; born 22 August 1947) is a
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...
-born Israeli civil servant who, as senior director, heads the Restitution of Rights and Jewish Property Department at the Israeli
Ministry of Pensioner Affairs The Ministry for Social Equality for Israel (), until August 2015 called the Ministry for Senior Citizens (, ''Misrad LeAzrahim Vatikim''), is a government ministry in Israel. The ministerial post was created following the coalition agreement bet ...
, which is affiliated with the Prime Minister's Office. He has worked at the
Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...
and at the Prime Minister's Office, and has represented the Jewish state abroad as an emissary in a number of international organizations. Mor is the writer and editor of the First Global Report for Restitution of Rights and Jewish Property (1952–2004), and in 2010 was nominated by Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...
to be a member of the National Advisory Board for Restitution Rights and Jewish Property. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of the European Shoah Legacy Institute.


Background

Mor (previously Malowany) was born in 1947 in Wrocław, Poland, to parents who were both survivors of
the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
(Shoah). He spent his childhood in Poland and made
Aliyah ''Aliyah'' (, ; ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel or the Palestine (region), Palestine region, which is today chiefly represented by the Israel ...
to Israel in 1957. He lived with his parents on a
moshav A moshav (, plural ', "settlement, village") is a type of Israeli village or town or Jewish settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 and 1 ...
, studying and working on the family farm. In 1966 he was drafted to the
Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...
and served as a soldier in the
Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...
in 1967, as an officer in the
War of Attrition The War of Attrition (; ) involved fighting between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and their allies from 1967 to 1970. Following the 1967 Six-Day War, no serious diplomatic efforts were made to resolve t ...
in 1969, and as an officer (res.) in the
Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states led by Egypt and S ...
in 1973. He currently serves as a major (res.) in the
IDF Spokesperson's Unit The IDF Spokesperson's Unit (, ''Dover Tzahal'', abbr. Dotz) is the unit in the IDF Operations Directorate, responsible for information policy and media relations. The unit is led by the IDF Spokesperson, a brigadier general and member of the ...
. Mor studied at the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...
, earning a B.A. in economics in 1974. He earned an M.A. in public administration and public policy in 2001 while writing two M.A. theses. The first thesis was titled "Tax Reduction for Donors of Non-Profit Organizations in Israel in Reference to Fundraising of Israeli Non-Profit Organizations". His second was titled "A Comparative Analysis of Shoah Restitution in Three European Countries since the 1990s". Mor is currently working on a Ph.D. on the topic of Restitution of Jewish Property from the Holocaust Era, for which he was awarded a
Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...
fellowship.


Government work

Mor began his work at the Ministry of Finance in 1973 as an economist dealing with collective bargaining. After serving as an economist in 1977-78 at the budget department, in 1978 he became supervisor of Income Tax dealing with Investments and Foreign Investors at the Head Office of Revenue, while also serving as a board member of the Investment Promotion Center. In 1988 became associate director of the Investment Authority. Mor served as a director at the International Affairs Department from 2001 to 2008, when he left the Ministry of Finance for his current position. In 2004-05 he served as senior advisor for the restitution of rights and Jewish property at the Prime Minister's Office and was nominated by the Israeli cabinet as co-chairman of the steering committee for restitution of Jewish rights and property.


Representing Israel

Mor represented Israel as an emissary with three different organizations during three stints overseas: as Regional Director for the
United Israel Appeal United Israel Appeal (UIA), a subsidiary of The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), is a link between the American Jewish community and the people of Israel. An independent legal entity with 501(c)(3) charity status, and a Board of Direc ...
in the United Kingdom with the Joint Israel Appeal (1983–86, now the UJIA); in Canada with the Jewish Federation (1991–95); and in Australia with the
Jewish National Fund The Jewish National Fund (JNF; , ''Keren Kayemet LeYisrael''; previously , ''Ha Fund HaLeumi'') is a non-profit organizationProfessor Alon Tal, The Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, The Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben Gurion ...
(2001–02). He has also worked with organizations such as the World Jewish Restitution Organization (a branch of the
World Jewish Congress The World Jewish Congress (WJC) is an international federation of Jewish communities and organizations, founded in Geneva, Switzerland, in August 1936. According to its mission statement, the World Jewish Congress's main purpose is to act as ...
), the Swiss Humanitarian Fund and the ICHEIC. Mor participated in international conferences on restitution of Jewish property from the Holocaust era in
Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...
(1998),
Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...
(2000), and
Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
(2009). He also participated in the process of accession of Israel to the OECD in 2008 and in the Prague conference process of 2010.


Other

Mor served as a youth counselor in his moshav during 1961-66, and as counselor and team leader for overseas students at Hebrew University during 1970-73. He also served on the boards of two community centers, one in
Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
and one in
Mevaseret Zion Mevaseret Zion () is a town and local council located to the west of Jerusalem, straddling both sides of the Jerusalem–Tel Aviv highway. Mevaseret Zion is composed of two distinct older townships, Maoz Zion and Mevaseret Yerushalayim, under ...
. Mor has established a number of NGOs. The first, established in 1974, helped families of the soldiers in his reserve tank brigade during wartime. The second, established in 1982, dealt with municipal issues. The third, established in 1997, dealt with programs for preventing violence at elementary schools. In addition to his own studies, Mor is involved in the academic sector. He has lectured on a number of topics at the
University of Haifa The University of Haifa (, ) is a public research university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963 as a branch of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation as an inde ...
, the Israel Center for Management and the JDC Center for Lay Leadership. Mor has published over 40 papers on topics such as Israel's accession to the
OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...
, the Diaspora, non-profit institutions and restitution of Jewish property. Mor volunteers as Chairperson of Kvutzat Reut, an educational NGO in Jerusalem. He is fluent in Hebrew, English and Polish and knows some French, Yiddish and Russian. He has three adult sons and lives near Jerusalem.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mor, Aharon 1947 births Living people Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Social Sciences alumni Israeli Ashkenazi Jews Israeli civil servants Israeli economists Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent Polish emigrants to Israel Yiddish-speaking people