Yehuda Avner, a former ambassador to the UK and senior adviser to a succession of Israeli prime ministers, has died at the age of 86.

Born in Manchester in 1928, Mr Avner moved to Jerusalem in 1956, before joining the Israeli Foreign Service.

During his long diplomatic career, he served as speechwriter to five Israeli prime ministers, including Menachem Begin and Golda Meir, worked at the Israeli Consulate in New York City and the Israeli Embassy in Washington DC, and followed his ambassadorial post in the UK as ambassador to Australia.

He won international acclaim in 2010 when he published The Prime Ministers: An Intimate Narrative of Israerli Leadership, a 700-page, candid account of his career as an aide to some of the most famous names in Israeli history.

A statement released by his son-in-law, David Sable, called Mr Avner “a true servant of the Jewish people”.

He added: “His legacy is Medinat Yisrael, the State of Israel, to which he dedicated his life to building.”