politician writer Knesset member
Born in Jerusalem during the Ottoman era, Avniel was educated at a heder, before studying at a Teachers Seminary in Jerusalem and then education and social sciences at the University of Brussels, where he earned a Doctor of Philosophy in social sciences and economics.
He wrote several books, including The Arab Problem in the Land of Israel (1937), The Canton Problem: Facts, Figures and Assumptions (1937), Democracy versus Dictatorship (1939) and Labor Problem in the Land (1940). He was elected to the Knesset on the Herut list in 1951, and was re-elected in 1955, 1959, 1961 and 1965, by which time Herut had formed the Gahal alliance with the Liberal Party.
He lost his seat in the 1969 elections, and died in 1993.
