Harry Sacher

Harry Sacher
Born 1881
Died 1971
Occupation solicitor, journalist, Zionist leader
Board member of World Zionist Organization

Harry Sacher (1881–1971) was a British Jew, a prominent solicitor and a Zionist leader.

Biography

Sacher wrote for The Manchester Guardian[1] as a political analyst.

In Mandatory Palestine, Sacher co-founded the law firm of Sacher, Horowitz & Klebanoff. The firm had offices in Jerusalem and Haifa, as well as a branch in London. Already by the 1920s, Sacher became the most prominent attorney in the country. He was legal adviser to the Palestine Zionist Executive and also counted the Municipality of Tel Aviv among his regular clients.[2] At the same time he was an enthusiast of English law and was among the main opponents of the Hebrew Law of Peace system that aspired for autonomy from Palestine's British-based system of law and courts.[3] His most important private client (and personal confidant) had been Pinhas Rutenberg, who, under his legal guidance, created the Jaffa Electric Company and later the Palestine Electric Company under British concession. Harry Sacher was, therefore, an important figure in the process of providing Palestine with electric energy.[4]

An active Zionist, he was elected to the Executive of the WZO, and worked closely with Chaim Weizmann in their efforts to define and lead the WZO during the 1920s and 1930s, and contributed to early drafts of the Balfour Declaration. He had significant involvement in the establishment of Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Sacher married the sister of Simon Marks in 1915. He subsequently joined Marks & Spencer, and was made director in 1932.[5]

Sacher Park, the largest park in Jerusalem, was named in his memory.

Books

  • Zionism and the Jewish future. Macmillan Company. 1916 online
  • Jewish emancipation. English Zionist Federation. 1917 online
  • Israel.the establishment of a state. British Book Centre. 1952, Hyperion. 1976
  • Israel, the Arabs and the Foreign Office, Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland, 1956
  • Zionist portraits, and other essays. Blond. 1959

References

  1. ↑ Trial and error: the autobiography of Chaim Weizmann, Volume 1
  2. ↑ Shamir, Ronen (2000) The Colonies of Law: Colonialism, Zionism, and Law in Early Mandate Palestine. Cambridge University Press, pp. 122
  3. ↑ Shamir, Ronen (2000) The Colonies of Law: Colonialism, Zionism, and Law in Early Mandate Palestine. Cambridge University Press, pp. 109
  4. ↑ Shamir, Ronen (2013) Current Flow: The Electrification of Palestine. Stanford: Stanford University Press
  5. ↑
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