David Amar (1920–2000) was a Moroccan businessman, leader of the Moroccan Jewish community, politician, and philanthropist.

Early life

David Amar was born in

Settat Settat () is a city in Morocco between the national capital Rabat and Marrakesh. Settat is located by road south of the centre of Casablanca, roughly an hour's drive. It is the capital of Settat Province and is its largest city in both size and ...

, Morocco.

Business career

Amar was the head of

Omnium Nord-Africain The ONA Group (Omnium Nord-Africain, Arabic: مجموعة أونا) is a defunct Moroccan holding company established in 1934 and dissolved in 2010 and succeeded by Societe Nationale d'Investissement. ONA was an industrial, financial and servic ...

, Morocco's largest conglomerate, until he resigned in January 1986, and was replaced by King Hassan's son-in-law

Fouad Felalli Fouad may refer to: People with the single name *Fuad I of Egypt (1868-1936), also spelled Fouad, sultan and later king of Egypt *Fuad II of Egypt (born 1952), deposed infant king of Egypt Fictional characters *Fouad (Family Guy), character in Amer ...

. The circumstances of this were unclear and may have been due to retirement, or to a loss of influence, and Amar sold all of his shares in the company.

Political career

Amar was president of the Jewish community in

Kenitra Kenitra (, , , ) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is a port on the Sebou River with a population of 507,736 as of 2024. It is one of the three main cities of the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra region and the capital of the similarly named Kénitra ...

, which was where he started his business career. He established connections with Moroccan nationalists, which helped him obtain the position of secretary general of the Conseil des Communautés Israélites du Maroc (CCIM) after Moroccan independence in 1956. Amar was involved in

Operation Yachin Operation Yakhin was an operation led by Israel's Mossad in coordination with the Moroccan state to discretely emigrate Moroccan Jews to Israel between November 1961 and spring 1964. In the arrangement, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS ...

, in which 97,000

Moroccan Jews Moroccan Jews (; ; ) are Jews who live in or are from Morocco. Moroccan Jews constitute an ancient community dating to Roman Empire, Roman times. Jews began immigrating to the region as early as 70 CE. They were much later met by a second wave o ...

emigrated to Israel in 1961 to 1964. For 26 years, from 1965 to 1986 (at least), Amar was president of the

Council of Moroccan Jewish Communities A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nation ...

. He was also president of the World Assembly of Moroccan Jewry. In 1965, Amar was a member of the

Chamber of Moroccan Counselors Chamber or The Chamber may refer to: Organizations and government *Chamber of commerce, a form of business network *Legislative chamber, a deliberative assembly within a legislature *Debate chamber, a room for people to discuss and debate Arts ...

. At the time of the 1971 coup attempt, Amar briefly fled abroad due to his closeness to

King Hassan II Hassan II (; 9 July 1929 – 23 July 1999) was King of Morocco from 1961 until his death in 1999. A member of the Alawi dynasty, he was the eldest son of King Mohammed V of Morocco, Mohammed V, and his second wife Princess Lalla Abla ...

. In 1984, Amar was made an Officer in the

Order of the Throne The Order of the Throne () is a state decoration of the Kingdom of Morocco awarded for distinguished services of a civil or military nature. The Order was instituted on 16 May 1963 by King Hassan II of Morocco, who reigned between 1961 and 199 ...

by King Hassan.

Philanthropy

He funded the restoration of the

North Africa Jewish Heritage Center The David Amar Worldwide North Africa Jewish Heritage Center is a cultural centre and museum in Jerusalem, that opened in 2011. It is located in the heart of the Mahane Israel (also Mahaneh Yisrael) neighborhood established in 1865, and is hous ...

in Jerusalem, which was named the David Amar Worldwide North Africa Jewish Heritage Center in his honour.

Personal life

In 1965, his daughter Annie-Claude Amar (died 6 August 1993) married Raphael Cohen (later known as Raphael Edery, a member of the

Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

from 1981 to 1999 and a government minister), an oil company engineer, in the presence of two members of the Moroccan Cabinet, several former Ministers and the National Police Chief. His son Daniel Amar is a French-Jewish businessman, who owns stakes in

Israel Salt Industries Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. It occupies the Pale ...

and

Bank Hapoalim Bank Hapoalim ( lit. ''The Workers' Bank'') is one of the largest banks in Israel, established in 1921. The bank offers a broad range of financial services to retail, corporate, and institutional customers, with a focus on retail banking services. ...

. Amar lived in a villa in "Casablanca's wealthiest district".

References

20th-century Moroccan businesspeople Moroccan philanthropists 1920 births 2000 deaths 20th-century Moroccan Jews People from Casablanca People from Settat {{Morocco-bio-stub