In 1951, Navon became the political secretary of Israel's first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion.
 The following year he was appointed Ben-Gurion's bureau chief.
He remained in this position under Prime Minister Moshe Sharett.
His judgment was crucial to advice the government received during the Suez Crisis and Lavon Affair.


In 1963 Ben-Gurion resigned as prime minister, Navon became a civil service department head at the Ministry of Education and Culture.
 Navon began a long campaign fighting illiteracy in Israel, which affected about 12% of the Jewish population.

It's a shame and disgrace that more than 200,000 adults in Israel do not know how to read or write in any language, and we must do everything possible to erase this stain from us.

 Navon ordered the mobilisation of hundreds of female soldiers serving compulsory national service to teach in new schools to reach illiterate adults to read and write Hebrew.
Two years later, Navon was elected to the Knesset as a member of Ben-Gurion's Rafi.
 The new party which had dared challenge the Mapai establishment was driven by 'modernization and scientification'; it merged into the Israeli Labor Party (part of the Alignment) in 1968.
 But the labour elite of which Navon was one, would in the future dictate the Left's agenda.
Navon served as deputy speaker of the Knesset and chairman of the Knesset Committee on Foreign and Defense Affairs.
In 1951, Navon became the political secretary of Israel's first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion.  The following year he was appointed Ben-Gurion's bureau chief. He remained in this position under Prime Minister Moshe Sharett. His judgment was crucial to advice the government received during the Suez Crisis and Lavon Affair.

In 1963 Ben-Gurion resigned as prime minister, Navon became a civil service department head at the Ministry of Education and Culture.  Navon began a long campaign fighting illiteracy in Israel, which affected about 12% of the Jewish population. 
It's a shame and disgrace that more than 200,000 adults in Israel do not know how to read or write in any language, and we must do everything possible to erase this stain from us.
 Navon ordered the mobilisation of hundreds of female soldiers serving compulsory national service to teach in new schools to reach illiterate adults to read and write Hebrew. Two years later, Navon was elected to the Knesset as a member of Ben-Gurion's Rafi.  The new party which had dared challenge the Mapai establishment was driven by 'modernization and scientification'; it merged into the Israeli Labor Party (part of the Alignment) in 1968.  But the labour elite of which Navon was one, would in the future dictate the Left's agenda. Navon served as deputy speaker of the Knesset and chairman of the Knesset Committee on Foreign and Defense Affairs.
Yitzhak Navon