From 1946 to his death, Kovner was a resident of Kibbutz Ein HaHoresh.[28] He was active in Mapam as well as in HaShomer HaTzair, but never took on a formal political role.[29] He played a major part in the design and construction of several Holocaust museums, including the Diaspora Museum in Tel Aviv.[30] He died in 1987 (aged 69) of laryngeal cancer, perhaps due to his lifelong heavy smoking,[31] at his home in Ein HaHoresh.