Ben-Ner, Yitzhak
BEN-NER, YITZHAK
BEN-NER, YITZHAK (1937– ), Israeli writer. Born in Kefar Yehoshua, Ben-Ner studied literature and drama at Tel Aviv University before spending a couple of years in New York. His first novel, Ha-Ish mi-Sham (1967; The Man from There, 1970), tells of a young Israeli soldier who is trapped in a small Egyptian border town. An Egyptian doctor protects and hides him in his fiancée's house. An ambiguous relationship develops, full of tension and surprises. The novel, which gained Ben-Ner much acclaim, was followed by prose works – novels and collections of stories – as well as by books for children (e.g. Kishona, 1977; Jeans, 1991), film and television scripts, and plays (e.g., the monodrama David August, 1983, Ta'atuon, performed at the Cameri Theatre in 1990, and Uri Muri, performed there in 1999). The collection Sheki'ah Kafrit (1976; Rustic Sunset, 1997) comprises eight short stories, tales of childhood and maturity, depicting urban life in Israel and looking critically at the seemingly heroic officers of the Israeli army. Malakhim Ba'im ("The Angels Are Coming," 1987) is a sophisticated parody on contemporary Israeli society through the story of David Halperin, a hedonistic Tel Aviv bachelor.Boker shel Shotim ("Morning of Fools," 1992) is structured as a series of monologues by the mentally retarded Uzai, who observes life around him in his moshavah; the monologue technique, one of the characteristics of Ben-Ner's prose, is used also in the four stories entitled Ta'atu'on, dealing mostly with soldiers torn between duty and the desire for self-fulfillment. Mitḥam Oyev ("Enemy Territory," 1997) was written in the wake of Yitzhak Rabin's murder: A bodyguard of the assassinated prime minister seeks to assuage his guilt by penetrating a secret underground organization in the West Bank. As in most of his works, Ben-Ner introduced political and moral issues perturbing Israeli society. Ir Miklat ("City of Refuge," 2000) is yet again a cruel and barbed portrait of contemporary society, with seven monologues representing different aspects of life in a troubled, decadent Tel Aviv. Ben-Ner is also known for his radio and television work. He was awarded the prestigious Agnon Prize and the Bernstein Prize.
bibliography:
S. Brosh, Ke-Mikhvat Esh: Iyun bi-Yeẓirot Ben-Ner (1979); H. Barzel, Megamot be-Sipporet ha-Hoveh: Y. Ben-Ner (1979); A. Karinski, Sheki'ah Kafrit (1984); G. Shaked, Ha-Sipporet ha-Ivrit, 5 (1998), 410–44; R. Furstenberg, "After the Rain," in: Modern Hebrew Literature 6, 1–2 (1980), 68–71; R. Furstenberg, "Here and Now: Ben Ner's A Distant Land," in Modern Hebrew Literature 7, 1–2 (1981/82), 78–81; Y. Mazor, "Ha-Makom bo ha-Sipporet Meshikah la-Shirah," in: Moznayim 56, 6 (1983), 46–51; Y. Berlovitz, in: Davar (Sept. 2, 1983); R.L. Kofman, "In Egypt, in Exile: Studies in Two Works by Ben Ner," in: Hebrew Studies 24 (1983), 107–19; A. Lipsker, in: Alei Si'aḥ 27–28 (1990), 143–51; N. Gertz, "Amos Oz and Izhak Ben Ner: The Image of Woman in Literary Works and as Transvalued in Film Adaptations," in: Israeli Writers Consider the "Outsider" (1993), 57–81; G. Morahg, "Subverting Dystopia: Ben Ner's Fiction of the Future," in: Prooftexts 13, 3 (1993), 269–87; L. Yudkin, "Y. Ben Ner, Israeli Novelist," in: Jewish Book Annual 51 (1993), 71–81; Y. Zerubavel, "Revisiting the Pioneer Past," in: Hebrew Studies 41 (2000), 209–24.
[Anat Feinberg (2nd ed.)]