Arvatz, Abraham

The eldest son of Samuel. He was born in 1910 in the Neveh Shalom neighborhood on the Jaffa-Tel Aviv border. A descendant of a respected Spanish family, the grandson of Rabbi Papola, who was one of the first Sephardic Jews in Israel. Because of his mastery of the Arabic language and his familiarity with Arab customs, he made a great deal of effort to purchase lands from Arabs and transfer them to Jews. He continued his blessed activities during the bloody riots of 1936-1939, and in addition, as a loyal member of the Haganah, served as their eyes and ears for what was happening among the Arabs. Avraham did not pay attention to the many warnings he heard from both Jews and Arab acquaintances that the heads of the Arab gangs had sentenced him to death and continued his work. On March 23, 1939, at the Tabu offices in Ramle, he signed a deal to buy land from Arabs, was shot and killed, and left a wife and a three-year-old son. Avraham was brought to rest in the Haganah section of the Nahalat Yitzhak cemetery.