Asher was born on 12 March 1929 in Jerusalem in the Millner Houses, bordering the neighborhoods of Me’ah She’arim and Beit Israel. His father, Alter Binyamin Tzvi, made aliyah from Belarus in the third aliya of 5681, together with the group which established Kibbutz Ein Harod. However, the plan did not come to fruition, so he remained in Tel Aviv. His mother, Ahuva (Liba) née Feder, traced her lineage to the Baal HaTanya. In 1928, the family moved to Jerusalem.

The father worked in construction and contracting. The family was religiously observant, with two brothers and three sisters. The older brother Yehuda was imprisoned by the British for his membership in the IZL; and in the War of Independence, he was killed in action.

Asher grew up in the Knesset A neighborhood, and he studied in Yeshivat Etz Hayim. He received his secular education by taking night classes in Doresh Zion. At age eleven, he joined Beitar; and in 1945, he joined Lehi. There he put up posters and distributed fliers in public places; he was also responsible for the warehouse where the materials were kept, along with three pistols. After the War of Independence erupted, he was sent to Camp Eldad in Lifta and then to Camp Dror in Talbiyeh, participating in the battles at Notre Dame, Der Yassin and Ein Kerem. His hand was seriously injured, a condition which afflicted him until the end of his life, particularly in writing. After the Bernadotte assassination, when Lehi members in Jerusalem were arrested and gathered in Camp Schneller, he refused to get on the truck transporting them to Jaffa (and then to Acre). This is how he avoided detention and was able to enlist in the IDF.

In the IDF, he took a drivers’ course and was assigned to the Transportation Corps. He was demobilized in 1951, but continued to serve in the reserves in a heavy mortar unit until 1970. After he finished his regular service, he started working in the Seligsburg Girls’ School as a janitor. In 1984, he began working at the Artists’ House. In 1994, he retired, his main hobby being soccer.

In 1960, he married Rachel Yadgar, a teacher’s assistant in a kindergarten, also a native of Jerusalem. The couple had a daughter, a son and numerous grandchildren. They live in Jerusalem.