Other Notable Deaths

AMOS ELON, 82

Israeli writer and critic

Amos Elon, one of Israel's leading chroniclers and critics, died Monday in his adopted home of Italy.

His wife, Beth Elon, said he died at home in the Tuscan village where he spent the last years of his life suffering from leukemia.

Mr. Elon began his career as a reporter for the Israeli daily Haaretz in the 1950s. His work followed the Zionist movement from its early days, including an acclaimed biography of the movement's founder, Theodore Herzl.

After the 1967 Middle East war, Mr. Elon was among the first Israeli intellectuals to predict that the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip with their Arab populations would be disastrous for Israel.

His best-known book, The Israelis: Founders and Sons, stood out as one of the first works by an Israeli to deal with the national aspirations of the Palestinians. The topic had been largely ignored by Zionist pioneers and historians.

"His importance was his ability to look at Israeli society from outside the myths accepted by that society with a critical, ironic eye," said historian Tom Segev, a colleague of Mr. Elon's at Haaretz.

Mr. Elon played a key role in shaping Hebrew culture, Mr. Segev said.

But he eventually distanced himself from Israel, spending much of his time at his home in Tuscany and writing increasingly about Jewish life in Europe.

In 2004, Mr. Elon left Israel for good. In an interview at the time with Haaretz, he expressed disillusionment with his country over what he described as a move toward militarism and religion.