Mr. Noam Arnon

Noam Arnon, a resident of Kiryat Arba and Hebron for 36 years, is a leader of the movement for the renewal of Jewish settlement in Hebron, City of the Patriarchs. After his discharge from the IDF following the Yom Kippur War, he joined the project to renovate the ancient Avraham Avinu Synagogue in Hebron.

Later, he established the Hebron Midrasha, which provides educational programming for thousands of school children, soldiers and university students. At the same time, he joined Gush Emunim, becoming the movement’s spokesman and a leader of its public struggle on behalf of Jewish settlement.

In 1984 the Arnon family moved to Beit Hadassah in Hebron, and worked to establish a museum on the site, educating the public on the Jewish community of Hebron and its destruction in the massacre of 1929.

Following the first intifadah in the late 1980s, and during the ‘90s and the Oslo process, Noam worked to “brand” Hebron as a biblical Jewish city, an integral part of the Eretz Yisrael, sharing the message of its vital significance to the general public, both in Israel and abroad, through tours, educational activities and projects. During these years he also served as Chairman of Hebron’s Jewish community.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the massacre of the Hebron Jewish community in 1929 as well as the 30th anniversary of the renewal of the Jewish presence in the City of the Patriarchs.

Hundreds of thousands of visitors stream to Hebron each year, connecting with this holy city and proving that it is, indeed, the birthright of the Jewish people throughout history and today.

For his critical role in attracting the attention of Jews from across Israel and all over the world to the City of the Patriarchs and turning Hebron into one of the central sites celebrating Jewish heritage in Israel; and for his documentation of the history of the Jewish community of Hebron and his leadership as one of the heads of the renewal of Jewish settlement in the city, Noam Arnon has been awarded the Moskowitz Prize for Zionism’s 2009 "Lion of Zion" award.