Funeral services were held this afternoon for Dr. Yaacov Herzog, director general of the Premier’s office, who died here last night at the age of 50. Dr. Herzog had suffered brain damage in a fall in his home last year just before Premier Golda Meir’s trip to Washington. He was a son of the late Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Halevi Herzog and the brother of Gen. Chaim Herzog, the businessman, army officer and military analyst.
Dr. Herzog came to Palestine from his native Dublin at the age of 18, obtained rabbinical and university degrees and served in the Religious Affairs and Foreign Ministries. For the latter he was minister to the United States and to Poland and ambassador to Canada (1960-63). Dr. Herzog was named director general of the Premier’s office by the late Levi Eshkol and served him and Mrs. Meir as senior political advisor.
Having a special interest in relations with the diaspora, Dr. Herzog was the moving spirit behind the first of the Premier’s worldwide conferences. A decade ago he was elected Chief Rabbi of Britain, but poor health prevented him from taking the post.
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