 Tamari was born Leopold Fagov in Cape Town, South Africa, in 1927, and graduated from the University of Cape Town with a degree in economics in 1948.Tamari was an active member of the Zionist Bnei Akiva youth group, and in 1950, he joined other members of this group in moving to Israel.At first he settled in Kfar Darom, moving soon afterwards to Kibbutz Shluchot.