Yisroel (Robert) Aumann was born on June 8, 1930 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. His family fled to the USA in 1938. He attended yeshiva and college in New York, getting his PhD in Mathematics from MIT. In 1956 he joined the Mathematics faculty of Hebrew University.
Aumann received the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2005 for his game-theory analysis, shared with Thomas Schelling. As a result of his political views, and his use of research to justify them, the decision to give him the Nobel prize was criticized in the European press. A petition to cancel his prize garnered signatures from 1,000 academics worldwide.
Aumann's greatest contribution is in the realm of repeated games which are situations in which players encounter the same situation over and over again. Aumann draws on a case in game theory called the Blackmailer Paradox, to demonstrate that giving land to the Arabs is strategically foolish based on the mathematical theory. By presenting an unyielding demand, the Arab states force Israel to "yield to blackmail" due to the perception that it will leave the negotiating room with nothing if it is inflexible.
Global warming could lead to cooler weather in Europe; raising taxes leads to less revenue;disarming leads to war. Professor Yisroel Aumann relates contradictions that prove his game-theory that led to his winning a Nobel Prize. Professor Aumann relates the example of the Arabs versus the Crusaders and how Arab patience can overcome the impatience of the Jews for peace.
Professor Yisrael (Robert) Aumann (1)