{{Short description|Israeli general and politician (1935–2024)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Yaakov Turner | image = Ci-Club18.jpg | image_size = 236 | native_name = {{Nobold|יעקב טרנר}} | order = 7th Mayor of Beersheba | term_start = 1998 | term_end = 2008 | president = | predecessor = David Bunfeld | successor = Ruvik Danilovich | birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1935|02|27}} | birth_place = {{nobr|Kfar Yona, Mandatory Palestine}} | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2024|10|27|1935|02|27}} | death_place = | party = Labor | spouse = Ariela Turner | native_name_lang = he }}
'''Yaakov Turner''' ({{langx|he|{{Script/Hebrew|יעקב טרנר}}}}; 27 February 1935 – 27 October 2024) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the mayor of Beersheba. Prior to his election as mayor, he was an Israel Air Force pilot and the country's Chief of Police.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CcfaAAAAQBAJ&dq=yaakov+turner+police&pg=PA24|title=Communicating Security: Civil-Military Relations in Israel|last=Lebel|first=Udi|date=13 September 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317998228|language=en}}</ref> Turner was the founder and head of the Israeli Air Force Museum.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.kkl.org.il/eng/about-kkl-jnf/green-israel-news/july-2012/air-cadets-iaf-planting/ |title=International Air Cadets Plant Trees at Israeli Air Force Museum |access-date=15 February 2015 |archive-date=15 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150215183551/http://www.kkl.org.il/eng/about-kkl-jnf/green-israel-news/july-2012/air-cadets-iaf-planting/ |url-status=live}}</ref>
==Early life== [[File:PikiWiki Israel 18660 People of Israel.jpg|thumb|Turner visiting Lod as chief of police]] Yaakov Turner was born in Kfar Yona, Mandatory Palestine, to Jewish parents from Hungary and Poland. He graduated from Ben Gurion University of the Negev with a major in behavioral sciences.<ref name="HB">{{Cite news|url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-88472200.html|title=Beersheva Mayor Yaakov Turner|last=Russo|first=Yocheved Miriam|date=5 December 2003|work=Jerusalem Post|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160530235643/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-88472200.html|archive-date=30 May 2016 |via=HighBeam Research}}</ref>
==Military and police career== Turner enlisted in the Israeli Air Force in 1953 and retired in 1985 as a brigadier general. In the Yom Kippur War he was an F-4 Phantom II pilot, and in the Six-Day War and the War of Attrition, he was the commander of an air combat squadron.
In 1985 he founded the Israeli Air Force Museum in Hatzerim airbase near Beersheba.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.jpost.com/Green-Israel/People-and-The-Environment/International-Air-Cadets-at-Israeli-Air-Force-Museum|title=International Air Cadets at Israeli Air Force Museum|date=2 August 2012|work=The Jerusalem Post|access-date=26 July 2018|archive-date=27 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180727024541/https://www.jpost.com/Green-Israel/People-and-The-Environment/International-Air-Cadets-at-Israeli-Air-Force-Museum|url-status=live}}</ref>
After his military service, he joined the Israel Police, where he became general commissioner (commander of the police) in 1990, a position he held until 1993. Turner served as president of the Israeli branch of the International Police Association.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ipa-israel.org.il/len/apage/64188.php |title=International Police Association |access-date=15 February 2015 |archive-date=15 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150215190140/http://www.ipa-israel.org.il/len/apage/64188.php |url-status=live}}</ref>
==Mayor== In 1998, Turner was elected mayor of Beersheba. He was elected on a local list, but with the support of the Israeli Labor Party.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.en.idi.org.il/analysis/articles/national-and-local-politics/ |title=Israel Democracy Institute: National and Local Politics |access-date=15 February 2015 |archive-date=15 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150215185726/http://www.en.idi.org.il/analysis/articles/national-and-local-politics/ |url-status=live}}</ref> He was re-elected in 2003,<ref name=HB/> but lost the elections in 2008 to his former deputy mayor, Ruvik Danilovich.<ref name=jpost/> Turner won 30 percent of the vote versus 60 percent for Danilovich.<ref name=jpost>{{Cite news|url=https://www.jpost.com/Local-Israel/Around-Israel/Obama-effect-sees-youth-ousting-incumbents|title='Obama effect' sees 'youth' ousting incumbents|last=Izenberg|first=Dan|date=12 November 2008|work=The Jerusalem Post|access-date=26 July 2018|archive-date=27 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180727084817/https://www.jpost.com/Local-Israel/Around-Israel/Obama-effect-sees-youth-ousting-incumbents|url-status=live}}</ref>
The Yaakov Turner Sports Complex, named for him, includes the 16,000-seat Turner Stadium, multifunctional sport hall and practice fields.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://duns100.globes.co.il/en/companies-1000870927 |title=Municipality of Be'er Sheva |access-date=12 December 2014 |archive-date=21 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821135221/http://duns100.globes.co.il/en/companies-1000870927 |url-status=live}}</ref>
==Death== Turner died on 27 October 2024, at the age of 89.<ref>[https://sheva7.walla.co.il/item/3700071 ראש עיריית באר שבע לשעבר יעקב טרנר הלך לעולמו] {{in lang|he}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Commons category}} {{Mayors of Beersheba}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Yaakov}} Category:1935 births Category:2024 deaths Category:Israeli Air Force personnel Category:Israeli generals Category:Israeli Jews Category:Israeli Labor Party politicians Category:Israeli military aviators Category:Israeli people of Romanian-Jewish descent Category:Israeli police chiefs Category:Mayors of Beersheba Category:Yom Kippur War pilots Category:Ben-Gurion University of the Negev alumni Category:Directors of museums in Israel Category:People from Kfar Yona