Weizman, Ezer

(1924-2005)

   A nephew of Chaim Weizmann, who spelled his name with one n to avoid benefiting from the family connection. Born in Tel Aviv on 15 June 1924, he was educated at the Reali School in Haifa and joined the Hagana in 1939. In 1942, he enlisted in the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and saw service in India. In 1948, he served as a squadron commander in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and rose through the ranks. He studied with the RAF from 1951 to 1953, and in 1958, he became commander in chief of the Israeli air force. From 1966 to 1969, he served as chief of the general staff branch of the IDF and in that capacity was involved in planning Israel's victory in the Six-Day War (1967), including its swift and decisive defeat of the Egyptian air force (much of it still on the ground). He resigned from the IDF in December 1969, apparently convinced that he would not be made chief of staff.

   Weizman immediately entered political life. He was first elected to the seventh Knesset (1969) on the Gahal list. In 1969-70, he served as minister of transport in the Government of National Unity led by Golda Meir in one of the six seats allocated to the Gahal Party. He was elected chairman of the Herut Party in 1971. He managed the Likud's first successful campaign in the election to the ninth Knesset in 1977. In the subsequent government formed by Menachem Begin, he served as minister of defense but resigned in 1980. In 1984, he founded his own centrist political party, Yahad, which won three seats in the 11th Knesset, and joined the Government of National Unity, with Weizman serving as minister in the prime minister's office with special responsibility for Arab affairs. In 1986, he was appointed minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Reelected to the 12th Knesset (1988) but this time as a member of the Israel Labor Party, Weizman became minister of science and development.

   After retiring from party politics in February 1992, he was elected president of Israel in 1993 and was reelected for a second five-year term in March 1998. Renowned as being a populist politician, he was credited with opening up the office of the presidency, making it an institution more accessible to the average Israeli. He also sought to transform the presidency into a "bully pulpit" for expressing popular sentiment about controversial aspects of domestic politics and security and foreign policy (an exercise that found Weizman clashing on occasion with Labor and Likud prime ministers alike). He was forced to resign from the presidency in July 2000 amid revelations of financial impropriety (although no charges were filed against him). On 24 April 2005, he died at his home in Caesarea at the age of 80.