Ezra Danin, a veteran Arabist and former Haganah intelligence officer, who escorted Golda Meir on her famous secret visit to King Abdullah of Jordan, has died here at the age of 82.
Danin was born in Jaffa and at the age of six moved to one of the first houses built in Tel Aviv by his father who was among the founders of the Ahuzat Bayit suburb which became Tel Aviv. Danin studied agriculture and was active in the new citrus industry. But his main activity was his secret work for Haganah intelligence, which he helped establish.
The Danin family had been friendly with the Emir Abdullah and paid several secret visits to the Trans-Jordanian leader. It was Danin who arranged for Meir’s meeting with Abdullah, in an effort to stave off fighting between the young State of Israel in the making and Trans-Jordan, and accompanied her on her visit.
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