THON, YA'AKOV YOḤANAN

THON, YA'AKOV YOḤANAN (1880–1950), yishuv leader. Born in Lemberg, the younger brother of Osias *Thon, he studied law. In 1904–07 he worked together with Arthur *Ruppin in the Bureau for Jewish Statistics and Demography in Berlin. Thon settled in Ereẓ Israel in 1907 and a year later he was nominated Ruppin's deputy in the management of the Palestine Office of the Zionist Organization. From 1916 to 1920 he filled Ruppin's place during the latter's exile in Turkey. During World War i, Thon adopted a neutral stand toward the conflict and developed contacts with German and Austrian representatives in the country; he thus opposed *Nili's clandestine pro-British activities. In 1917, after the British conquest, he organized the Jewish community council in Jerusalem and became its first chairman. Two years later Thon prepared a long and detailed report on the conditions in Ereẓ Israel during the war entitled Ereẓ Yisrael bi-Shenot ha-Milḥamah ha-Olamit. He was a founder and afterward the first chairman of the Provisional Council (Ha-Va'ad ha-Zemanni) of the Jewish community and later of the Va'ad Le'ummi presidium (until 1930). Thon was moderate in his approach to the Mandatory government and tried to come to terms with the Arab National Movement. A founder of *Berit Shalom (from which he later resigned), he was a leader of *Ha-Po'el ha-Ẓa'ir and later joined *Mapai.

Thon's main activities were connected with the Palestine Land Development Corporation, and he was its managing director from 1921 until his death. Under his directorship, the company facilitated the purchasing of land and development and building projects throughout the country. His main works include Die Juden in Oesterreich (1908) and Otto Warburg (in Sefer Warburg (1908), 2–24).

His first wife, sarah (1881–1920), was a pioneer in the establishment of the handicraft industries employing Oriental women and a leader of the Association of Women for Equal Rights. His second wife, helena hannah (1886– ), was a social worker in Jerusalem and leader in the Women's League for Equal Rights.