Nebenzahl, Itzhak Ernst
NEBENZAHL, ITZHAK ERNST
NEBENZAHL, ITZHAK ERNST (1907–1992), Israeli state comptroller. Nebenzahl was born in Frankfurt on the Main, Germany, and studied at the universities of Frankfurt, Berlin, and Freiburg. He was appointed lecturer in civil law at Frankfurt in 1932. A strictly observant Jew, Nebenzahl was president of the Ezra religious youth movement in Germany in 1929–30. Following Hitler's rise to power in 1933 he immigrated to Ereẓ Israel. A partner in the world-wide Hollander concern, and chairman of the Board of Directors from 1947 to 1961, he has served on most of the important economic bodies of Israel, including the Jerusalem Economic Corporation, the Israel Post Office Bank, and the Bank of Israel, where he was chairman of the advisory committee and council (1957–62). In 1961 Nebenzahl was elected state comptroller of Israel for a five-year period, and was re-elected in 1966, 1971, and 1976, retiring at the end of 1981. In 1976 he also became ex-officio commissioner for complaints from the public (Ombudsman) of the State of Israel.