{{Short description|Israeli politician (1942–2013)}} {{Infobox officeholder | image = Ron naxman.JPG | birth_date = 6 August 1942 | birth_place = {{nowrap|Tel Aviv, Mandatory Palestine}} | death_date = {{dda|df=y|2013|1|18|1942|8|6}} | death_place = | suboffice1 = Likud | office1 = Faction represented in the Knesset | subterm1 = 1992–1996 | native_name = רון נחמן | native_name_lang = he }}
'''Ron Nachman''' ({{langx|he|רון נחמן}}{{lrm}}; 6 August 1942 – 18 January 2013) was an Israeli politician and former Knesset member for the Likud. The founder of Ariel, one of the largest Israeli settlements in the West Bank, he was its mayor from 1985 until his death in 2013.<ref name="YL-4334214,00">{{cite news| url= http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4334214,00.html| title=Ariel Mayor Ron Nachman dies| first=Itamar |last=Fleishman| work=Ynetnews| date= 18 January 2013}}</ref>
==Biography== Born in Tel Aviv during the Mandate era, Nachman studied at Tel Aviv University, where he gained an LLB and a BA in political science and law studies.
He joined the settlement enterprise in 1972. As a board member of Israel Military Industries he established the "Tel Aviv Group" to settle the territories captured by Israel in June 1967. It was only in 1978 that something actually took off on the ground.<ref name="Haaretz1.494930">{{cite web| url=https://www.haaretz.com/2013-01-19/ty-article/.premium/ron-nachman-the-secular-settler/0000017f-f7e1-d318-afff-f7e32eaf0000| title=Ron Nachman, 'the last of the secular settlers,' who couldn't convince the Israeli public| first=Chaim |last=Levinson | date =19 January 2013| work=Haaretz}}</ref> After helping found Ariel in 1978, he became its first mayor in 1985, and was re-elected four times.
Nachman had argued for making Ariel an integral part of Israel. Since 1997, he had worked to have the former College of Judea and Samaria upgraded to university status. Although the college had renamed itself the Ariel University Center of Samaria, both Minister of Education Yuli Tamir and the Council for Higher Education had vowed to block it.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/888918.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001005648/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/888918.html| url-status=dead| archive-date=October 1, 2007| title= Ariel College upgrades itself to 'university' status| work= Haaretz|date= 2 August 2007}}</ref> Nevertheless, in 2012 the College officially became a university, becoming the first university approved in Israel since the 1980s.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=277826| title=Ariel gets university status, despite opposition| first= Joanna | last=Paraszcuk| date= 17 July 2012| work=The Jerusalem Post}}</ref>
In 1992 he was elected to the Knesset on Likud's list and was a member of the finance and constitution, law and justice committees. He lost his seat in the 1996 elections.
Nachman was also alternate deputy chairman of the Zionist Council in Israel and a member of the Zionist Action Committee. He also served as deputy chairman of the Union of Local Authorities. He saw himself as the last of the secular settlers.<ref name="Haaretz1.494930"/>
In February 2013, Nachman was posthumously awarded the Israel Prize.<ref name="ynetnews">{{cite news| url= http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4345968,00.html|title=Ron Nachman awarded posthumous Israel Prize|last=Chai| first= Shahar| work=Ynetnews| date=17 February 2013|accessdate=February 17, 2013}}</ref>
==Death== Nachman died on 18 January 2013 while being treated in Beilinson Hospital after a long battle with cancer. He was 70 years old.<ref>{{cite web|last=Benari|first=Eldad|title=Ariel Mayor Ron Nachman Dies at 70|url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/164338#.UPsMNx1CbMY|publisher=Israel national News|accessdate=19 January 2013}}</ref> He was buried at the Etgarim Park of the Nationwide Center for Development of Leadership overlooking Ariel, instead of the local cemetery. He had requested this exceptional location and special approval was given. Eulogies were given by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Knesset speaker Reuven Rivlin among other personalities.<ref>{{cite web|last=Ronen|first=Gil|title=Netanyahu: Nachman was 'Entirely Devoted' to the Jewish Revival|url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/164347|publisher=Israel national News |date=19 January 2013|accessdate=23 January 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Lev|first=David|title=PM: 'I Swear the Tree Planted in Ariel Will Never Be Uprooted'|url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/164384|publisher=Israel national News|date=20 January 2013|accessdate=23 January 2013}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{MKlink|id=157}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nachman, Ron}} Category:1942 births Category:2013 deaths Category:Ariel University Category:Deaths from cancer in Israel Category:Jewish Israeli politicians Category:Israeli settlers Category:Likud politicians Category:Mayors of places in Israel Category:Members of the 13th Knesset (1992–1996) Category:Politicians from Tel Aviv Category:Tel Aviv University alumni