Jacob Israël de Haan (31 December 1881 - 30 June 1924) was a Dutch Jewish literary writer, lawyer, anti-Zionist and journalist who immigrated to Palestine in 1919.

The homo-eroticism of the book, shocking to readers in the early 20th century, led to his dismissal from his teaching job and social-democratic political circles.

Indeed, the first secret Zionist report about him refers to his ranting anti-Arab remarks made at a party...[7]De Haan moved to Jerusalem in 1919 as correspondent of the Algemeen Handelsblad, one of the leading Dutch dailies.

[8] At first he aligned himself with religious Zionism and the Mizrachi movement, but after meeting Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, leader of the ultra-conservative Haredi Jewish community, he became the political spokesman of the Haredim in Jerusalem.

In response, the Haredim founded a branch of the Agudath Israel political organisation in Jerusalem to represent their interests in Mandate Palestine.

The leader at the time, Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, chose de Haan to organise and represent the Haredi position as their foreign minister,[12] on a diplomatic level equal to that of the secular Zionists.

[7]De Haan, speaking on behalf of Agudath Israel, even opposed the British authorities allocating separate benefits to the Zionist-led Yishuv.

[13] From 1922, he suffered persisting harassment including death threats and being spat on by Zionists, and his class at the Law School demanded his dismissal.

In March 1924, De Haan and rabbi Sonnenfeld travelled to Amman for an audience with Abdullah's father and top Hashemite leader, Emir Hussein bin Ali.

[13] In order to stop De Haan's planned anti-Zionist activity in London, Hecht discussed the issue with Zechariah Urieli, the Haganah commander in Jerusalem.

[13] Hecht did not inform the Yishuv's civilian leadership until after the assassination, when he contacted Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, a senior member of the National Council.

"[13] Before the facts were published, journalist Liel Leibovitz wrote that, while the identity of exactly who ordered the assassination was unknown, "there's little doubt that many in the senior Zionist leadership in Jerusalem knew about the proposal to kill de Haan – and that none objected.

[14][19] The headquarters of Agudath Israel received condolences from the British Palestine government, the French and Spanish consuls in Jerusalem, and various cables from around the world.

[20] In New York, ultra-Orthodox Jews circulated Yiddish leaflets praising De Haan and condemning "Torahless Zionists, who use violence to enslave the pious.

A young pioneer named Yaakov Gussman was briefly detained by the British police on suspicion of carrying out the assassination, but released for lack of evidence.

There was widespread speculation as to the identity of the assassin, with the theories postulated including him being a Zionist, a Haredi enraged over the revelations of De Haan's homosexuality, or an "Arab lover".

[6] In Neturei Karta circles De Haan is considered a martyr, killed by secular Jews while protecting the Jewish religion.

After his murder, his estate was transferred to his friend Mosche Wallach, who shipped it to the Netherlands, presumably to De Haan's widow Johanna van Maarseveen.

During the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, Koker managed to publish De Haan's Brieven uit Jeruzalem ('Letters from Jerusalem') in a small book.

In 2015 a comprehensive 685-page Dutch-language biography written by Dutch academic and literary critic Joop Fontijn was published by De Bezige Bij in Amsterdam under the title "Onrust.

Through the years, in the Netherlands there have been projects, festivals and theatre productions commemorating Jacob Israël de Haan's work and life.