Born in Jerusalem, fifth generation in Jerusalem, in 1936 to his father, YAKOV, an orientalist and researcher of the history of Jerusalem, and to his mother, Malka ROSILIO, who immigrated from Marocco in 1932.
Served as parachutist in the army between 1954-1957.
Graduate of the departments of Philosophy and Hebrew Literature at the HEBREW UNIVERSITY IN Jerusalem.
Married to Rivka, clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst, father of a daughter and two sons. Grandfather of 7 grand-childrens.
From 1963 to 1967 he served in Paris as the General Secretary of World Union Of Jewish Students.
In 1967 he returned to Israel and since 1972 he has been full Professor of Comparative and Hebrew Literature at Haifa University.
In 1975 he was invited as guest writer to St. Cross college in oxford. He was also a visiting professor at Harvard (1977) Chicago university (1988, 1997, 2000) and at Princeton (1992).ROME 4 AT 2003
Awarded the Brenner Prize in 1983, the Alterman Prize in 1986, the Bialik Prize in 1989, The Israeli Booker Prize in 1992 and The Israel Prize in 1995. He also won the American Prize for the best Jewish book in 1990 and in 1993 and the prestigious Koret prize . He received an honorary doctorate of the Hebrew Union College in 1990, and of the Tel-Aviv University in 1998 and Torino university in 1999.and BAR ILAN UNIVERSITY IN 2000. WIEZMAN INSTITUTE (2009) AND BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY (2011), and in 2012 AN HONORARY DOCTORATE of the SCCULA NORMALE SUPERIORE OF ITALY IN PIZA
HIS WORKS WERE TRANSLATED IN 28 COUNTRIES AND 10 OF HIS WORKS WERE ADAPTED TO FILMS , TELEVISION, PLAY AND OPERA.
In 1993 he received the B’nai B’rith Prize of Europe, the Jewish Quartely Prize W.G.B. In 1994 he received the Grinzanne Cavour Prize in Italy. And in 1996 The super prize of Fliano also in Italy. ALSO IN 2003 HE RECEIVED FOR THE LIBERATD BRIDE THE SUPER PRUZE OF NAPOLI AND THE LAMPEDUZA PRIZE . In 2005 he received the Boccatio prize FOR THE VOYAGE TO THE END OF THE MILLENIUM. And the viarrego prize in 2006 for the novel a woman in Jerusalem.in 2008 he got the rome prize for friendly fire . in 2013 he got the pris medicis in france for the retrospective in 2016 he got the emet prize in israel and in 2017 he got the dan david prize and the ANTONIO FELTRINELLI PEIZE FROM THE ACCADEMIA DEI LINCEI
His works:
The Death of the Old Man (Stories 1962)
Facing The forests (Stories 1968)
Beginning of summer 1970 ( A novella)
A night in may (Play 1969)
THE LAST TREATMENTS (PLAY 1973)
The Lover (Novel, 1977)
A late Divorce (Novel 1982)
Five seasons (Novel 1987)
Mr. Mani (Novel 1990)
POSSESIONS (PLAY 1992)
NIGHT`S BABIES (PLAY 1993)
Open Heart (novel 1994)
A voyage to the end of the millennium ( Novel 1997)
THE LIBERATED BRIDE (novel 2001)
THE MISSION OF THE HUMAN RESOURCE MAN (NOVEL 2004)
(IN ENGLISH A WOMAN IN JERUSALEM)
FRIENDLY FIRE (NOVEL 2007)
SPANISH GRACE (NOVEL 2010) in English the retrospective
CAN TWO WALK TOGETHER (A PLAY 2012) awarded the best play of the year
THE EXTRA (A NOVEL 2014)
THREE collection of essays on Zionism Judaism and Literature – Between Right and Right (1980) and The wall and the mountain. (1988) (2011)collection of essayes on literature and moral – THE TERRIBLE POWER OF A MINOR GUILT. (SIRACUSE UNIVERSITY PRESS)
AND IN 2007 A COLLECTION OF ESSAYS ON IDENTITY AND LITERATURE CALLED : HOMELAND LESSON
