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Israeli author Yizhar Smilansky, whose works on the 1948 War of Independence sparked debate and soul-searching in the Jewish state, died on Monday, his family said. He was 89.
Considered one of Israel's greatest writers, Smilansky was born to a family of Russian immigrants in what is today Rehovot, Israel, and wrote under a pseudonym Samekh Yizhar, gaining notoriety for such works as Midnight Convoy, The Prisoner and The Story of Hirbet Hiza.
The groundbreaking books, published between 1948 and 1950, sparked debate as the first Hebrew works to bring to light the dark side of Israel's War of Independence and the fate of the Palestinians.
In The Story of Hirbet Hiza, he gave an unflinching and wrenching account of Israeli soldiers who took part in expelling Palestinians from Galilee.
In the late 1950s, Smilansky published his epic Days of Ziklag, which earned him the prestigious Israel Prize at the age of 43, the youngest writer at the time to receive the honour. The two-tome saga narrates the compelling tales of Jewish fighters caught up in the combat of 1948.
Smilansky taught literature at Jerusalem's Hebrew University and served as a Labor MP in Israel's parliament.
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AFP 210844 GMT 08 06
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