Wellesley Aron

Major Wellesley Aron, MBE (1901–1988), was born in England but lived most of his life in British Mandated Palestine and then Israel.

His obituary by Phiip Gillon in The Jerusalem Post sums it up. "Wellesley Aron, who died a week ago, a few days before his 87th birthday, could have been typecast for one of those BBC films about idealistic English upper class officers and gentlemen who espouse what appears to be hopeless causes and convert them into practical successes, in defiance of prejudices and huge obstacles. Physically, he looked the part, with his ramrod-straight back and his major's moustache; educated at Cambridge, he also talked Nancy Mitford's U-language. Wellesley could be summed up in one word - integrity.",

Wellesley founded Habonim, which became the largest Zionist Youth movement world-wide; commanded a unit in the British Army in World War II; rescued refugees fleeing The Holocaust and organized Machal (volunteers for Israel) in the United States. He was also a successful internationally known businessman; the creator and teacher of courses on peace for school children; a pioneer in establishing Rotary International in Israel and, finally, in his late years, a founder of the Arab/Jewish community of Neve Shalom – Wāħat as-Salām, where he died in 1988.