Born Georg Bombach in Kiel in 1926, Haetzni immigrated to Mandatory Palestine in 1938 with his parents and sister,^[1] settling in the Kerem Avraham neighbourhood of Jerusalem. He studied at the Mizrachi Teachers' Seminary in Jerusalem, and was a member of the Haganah. He was severely wounded in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and spent eighteen months in hospital.^[1] He went on to attend the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, graduating with a law degree in 1954. Whilst a student he established the Sherut HaMitnavdim volunteer organisation, which helped new immigrants and protested government corruption, with Haetzni himself renouncing his membership of the ruling Mapai party.

In 1961 he established a law firm in Tel Aviv. After Israel's victory in the Six-Day War in 1967, he was involved in Jewish settlement in the West Bank, including the re-establishment of the Etzion Bloc and a Jewish community in Hebron. In 1972 he moved from Ramat Gan to the new Kiryat Arba settlement near Hebron. He later opened a law practice in the settlement.^[1] He became a member of the Yesha Council's Steering Committee, and joined the right-wing Tehiya party. He was on the party's list for the 1988 Knesset elections, but failed to win a seat. However, he entered the Knesset on 31 January 1990 as a replacement for Eliezer Waldman.^[2]

Haetzni was married, with four children. He died on 18 September 2022 at the age of 96.

• Elyakim Haetzni on the Knesset website