Yousef Haikal

Yousef Haikal (1907–1989) was a Jordanian Ambassador and the Mayor of Jaffa between 1945 and 1948.^[1]

HE Dr. Yousef Haikal
يوسف هيكل
Mayor of Jaffa
In office March 30, 1945 – 1948
Jordanian Ambassador to the United States
In office March 23, 1949 / June 1, 1949 – December 14, 1953
Succeeded by	Abdelmunim al-Rifai
Jordanian Ambassador to the United Kingdom
In office August 4, 1954 – May 18, 1956
Preceded by	Sulayman al-Nabulsi
Succeeded by	Baha Toukan
Jordanian Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York City
In office August 21, 1957 – June 5, 1962
Preceded by	Abdelmunim al-Rifai
Succeeded by	Abdelmunim al-Rifai
Jordanian Ambassador to India
In office June 5, 1962 – May 10, 1964
Succeeded by	October 3, 1964 – 1968 Kemal Mehmood Homoud
Jordanian Ambassador to China
In office May 10, 1964 – March 10, 1969
Preceded by	Azmi Nashachibi
Succeeded by	Kamel Al-Sharif
Personal details
Born	1907 (1907) Jaffa, Ottoman Empire
Died	1989 (aged 81–82) Amman, Jordan
Relatives	Hilmi Hanoun (nephew)
Education	studied primary and secondary school in Jaffa
Alma mater	Arab College (Jerusalem) University of London University of Paris

Biography

Haikal was born in 1907 in the city of Jaffa. After learning at the Arab College in Jerusalem, he sought degrees in Montpellier, Paris and the University of London, before returning to Mandatory Palestine in 1938. He served as the General Inspector of Awqaf (Muslim public properties in Palestine) for four years, and then as a District Judge in Nablus between 1943 and 1945.^[2] On 30 March 1945, Haikal was appointed to chair the Jaffa Municipal Commission by Mandatory authorities,^[3] thus becoming Mayor of Jaffa.^[4] 18 months after becoming mayor, Haikal held an election for the office, which he proceeded to win.^[5][6]

In February of 1948, during the Palestine war, Haikal contacted David Ben-Gurion through a British intermediary trying to secure a peace agreement with nearby Tel Aviv, which was opposed by the commander of the city's Arab militia.^[7][8] In May, Haikal left the city for Jordan.^[5]

In 1949, Haikal was appointed Jordanian Minister to the United States,^[9] In August of 1952, he became Jordan's representative at the International Monetary Fund.^[10] He held both positions until December of 1953.^[11][12] He subsequently led the Jordanian Delegation with the Jordan–Israel Mixed Armistice Commission in Jerusalem between 1953 and 1954. He subsequently served as Jordan's ambassador to the United Kingdom between 1954 and 1956, to France between 1956 and 1957,^[2] to the United States In 1957 and then again in 1959,^[13] to India between 1962 and 1964 and to the Republic of China between 1964 and 1969. Haikal also served as Jordan's Permanent Representative to the United Nations between 1957 and 1962.^{[citation needed]}

After retiring from his diplomatic posts, Haikal moved to Lebanon and wrote a memoir. Hilmi Hanoun, long-term mayor of Tulkarm, was a son of Haikal's sister, Asya.^[14] Haikal died in 1989 and was buried in Amman.^[5]