Who was Yaacov Herzog? Rabbi Dr. Ya'acov Herzog (1921-1972) brother of the 6th President of Israel, Chayim Herzog, and second son of the 1st Chief Rabbi of Israel, Yitzchak HaLevi Herzog, was an Israeli diplomat, lawyer, rabbi and philosopher of wide international reputation, who devoted his life to the service of the Jewish people and the State of Israel. He was born in Dublin, Ireland, on 21 December 1921. He received rabbinic ordination from the Harry Fischel Institute, completed his law studies at Hebrew University, and received a doctorate in International Law at the University of Ottawa. He settled in Palestine in 1939, and was a member of Haganah intelligence during the British Mandate. He was Israel's Ambassador to Canada in 1961 when he argued Israel's case with distinction in a public debate with Prof. Arnold Toynbee at McGill University. He served as personal adviser to the Prime Minister, David Ben Gurion, during the Sinai campaign in 1956 and is acknowledged as the principal architect and implementer of Israel's relations with the Vatican. In the words of the philosopher, Sir Isaiah Berlin, "Ya'acov Herzog was endowed by the Creator with gifts seldom found in combination; he had a cool, subtle and powerful brain, a pure and warm heart, nobility of character and a simple and untroubled moral vision that sustained and preserved him in the inner conflicts that must sooner or later, afflict all sensitive persons caught in the problems of public life."