Ya'akov Arnon

Born Jacob "Jaap" van Amerongen in Amsterdam, Netherlands to a well off family of Dutch Jewish diamond dealers, Arnon studied economics in his native city.

[2] In 1975, he joined with two other dissident establishment figures, Uri Avnery and Mattityahu Peled, to found the Israeli Council for Israeli-Palestinian Peace.

The ICIPP sought to promote private and unofficial dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians in as many ways as possible, but also to try to bring about official negotiations between the Government of Israel and the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

In 1980, Arnon went on a clandestine mission to Morocco on the invitation of King Hassan II along with Avnery, Peled and PLO liaison Issam Sartawi.

[2] His Hebrew-language biography, They Called Him Jaap: Jacob Arnon from Amsterdam to Jerusalem, was published in 2010 by Hakibbutz Hameuchad.