Katz began his academic career with a bachelor's degree in geography and education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He then pursued a master's degree and a Ph.D. in geography at the same institution, completing his doctoral dissertation in 1983. [2]
Holocaust survivor assets
While doing research on the Jewish National Fund (which was charged with buying and developing land in Ottoman Palestine (later the British Mandate for Palestine), Katz accidentally run into the issue of the Holocaust survivor assets held in Israel. [4] His 1997 article on the subject, "Forgotten Property. The Fate of the Property of Those Who Perished in the Holocaust in Israel" (in Hebrew) exposes that Israeli banks, the Administrator General and various land-dealing organizations held much property arisen from the investments of the European Jews in Israel during 1920s and 1930s. [5] [6] The article triggered political actions [4] and was instrumental in establishing a Parliamentary Investigative Committee on the issue, [7] and Yossi Katz was appointed a consultant [8] [9] by the Knesset to deal with the issue starting in 2000. The same year Katz expanded his article into the book (in Hebrew) Rechush Shenishkach [Forgotten Property]. [8] Katz wrote that much property (land, houses, shares, securities, etc.) in Mandate Palestine were purchased by European Jews, many of whom perished in the Holocaust. [10] Since a considerable number of these Jews were citizens of Germany and other "enemy states", their properties were seized by British Custodian of Enemy Property in 1939. But some of it remained in other hands. Later the British Custodian transferred the seized assets to the corresponding Israel Custodian, who treated them in the same way, as "enemy property". They were further transferred to Administrator General. [9] According to Israeli lawyer Mordechai Tzivin, under the British Law, Rabbanut formally became the apotropos (legal custodian) of some of these properties, but as Katz demonstrated, Rabbanut failed in this respect. [11]
In 2016, Katz was awarded the Israel Prize for his significant contributions to the fields of geography, archaeology, and the study of the Land of Israel. The selection committee stated that his research has "direct and significant implications for national ownership, land tenure in Israel, and the property of Holocaust victims that remained in the country". [12]
