Amos (Sternbach) Elon was born in Vienna. He immigrated to Mandate Palestine in 1933. He studied law and history in Israel and England. He was married to Beth Elon, a New York-born literary agent, with whom he had one daughter, Danae. In the 1990s, Elon began to spend much of his time in Italy. In 2004 he moved there permanently, citing disillusionment with developments in Israel since 1967.Elon died on May 25, 2009 in Tuscany, Italy, aged 82.

Beginning in the 1950s, Elon served as a correspondent on European and American affairs for the newspaper Haaretz. He took a leave of absence from Haaretz in 1971 and resumed in 1978. Amos retired from Haaretz in 2001. Amos Elon was an early advocate for the creation of a Palestinian state and withdrawal from the territories occupied by Israel in 1967. He was a frequent contributor to the New York Review of Books and The New York Times Magazine. Amos Elon - The New York Review of Books For many years, he was widely regarded as one of Israel's leading journalists.

Elon was the author of nine books. He rose to international fame in the early 1970s after publishing The Israelis: Founders and Sons, described as "an affectionate but unsparing portrait of the early Zionists".

In 2007-2008, Amos Elon was a fellow at the Center for Law and Security at New York University School of Law.