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Friday, October 06, 2006

YEMEN

YEMEN

History

Yemen is one of the oldest centers of civilization in the Near East. Between the 9th century BC and the 6th century AD, it was part of the Minaean, Sabaean, Himyarite, Qatabanian, Hadhramawtian, and Awsanian kingdoms, which controlled the lucrative spice trade. It was known to the Romans as "Arabia Felix" ("Happy Arabia") because of the riches its trade generated. Augustus Caesar attempted to annex it, but the expedition failed. The Persian Empire was more successful and Yemen became a Sassanid Persian satrapy.

The town of Hajarin, which features some of the oldest "skyscrapers" in the world - six story buildings made of mud bricks and mortar.

In the late 6th and early 7th centuries, since a lot of Sabaean people had continued to migrate from the land of Yemen following the destruction of the Ma'rib Dam (sadd Ma'rib) became Bedouin. At this time when the Kingdom of Aksum did not have any intentions on keeping their ancient lush kingdom. That had become barren land from extending commerce trade of its lucrative spice trade with the Romans, Persian Sassanid kings. Yemen was successively incorporated into the Ethiopian and Persian Sassanid empires. In the 7th century, Islamic caliphs began to exert control over the area. After this caliphate broke up, the former North Yemen came under control of Imams of various dynasties usually of the Zaidi sect, who established a theocratic political structure that survived until modern times. (Imam is a religious term. The Shiites apply it to the prophet Muhammad's son-in-law Ali, his sons Hassan and Hussein, and subsequent lineal descendants, whom they consider to have been divinely ordained unclassified successors of the prophet.)

Egyptian Sunni Caliphs occupied much of North Yemen throughout the 11th century. By the 16th century and again in the 19th century, north Yemen was part of the Ottoman Empire, and in some periods its Imams exerted control over south Yemen.

North Yemen became independent of the Ottoman Empire in 1918 and became a republic in 1962. In 1839 the British occupied the port of Aden and established it as a colony in September of that year. They also set up a zone of loose alliances (known as protectorates) around Aden to act as a protective buffer. In 1967 they withdrew following increasing pressure from local insurgency and Egyptian sponsored attacks from the north. Following the British Withdrawal this area became known as South Yemen. In 1970, the southern government adopted a Communist governmental system. The two countries were formally united as the Republic of Yemen on May 22, 1990.

URI NG GOBYERNO: REPUBLIKANO

EKONOMIYA

In terms of GDP per capita, Yemen is the poorest country in the Arab world and one of the poorest nations in the world. At unification, both the YAR and the PDRY were struggling, underdeveloped economies. In the north, disruptions of civil war (1962–1970) and frequent periods of drought had dealt severe blows to a previously prosperous agricultural sector. Coffee, formerly the north's main export and principal form of foreign exchange, declined as the cultivation of qat increased. Low domestic industrial output and a lack of raw materials made the YAR dependent on a wide variety of imports.

Remittances from Yemenis working abroad and foreign aid paid for perennial trade deficits. Substantial Yemeni communities exist in many countries of the world, including Yemen's immediate neighbors on the Arabian Peninsula, Indonesia, India, East Africa, and also the United Kingdom, and the United States. Beginning in the mid-1950s, the Soviet Union and China provided large-scale assistance.

In the south, pre-independence economic activity was overwhelmingly concentrated in the port city of Aden. The seaborne transit trade, which the port relied upon, collapsed with the closure of the Suez Canal and Britain's withdrawal from Aden in 1967.

Since unification, the government has worked to integrate two relatively disparate economic systems. However, severe shocks, including the return in 1990 of approximately 850,000 Yemenis from the Gulf states, a subsequent major reduction of aid flows, and internal political disputes culminating in the 1994 civil war hampered economic growth. Yemen, the fastest growing democracy in the Middle East, is attempting to climb into the middle human development region through ongoing political and economic reform.

Since the conclusion of the war, the government entered into agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to implement a structural adjustment program. Phase one of the IMF program included major financial and monetary reforms, including floating the currency, reducing the budget deficit, and cutting subsidies. Phase two will address structural issues such as civil service reform. The World Bank also is active in Yemen, with 22 active projects in 2004, including projects to improve governance in the public sector, water, and education. Since 1998, the government of Yemen has sought to implement World Bank economic and fiscal recommendations. In subsequent years, Yemen has lowered its debt burden through Paris Club agreements and restructuring U.S. foreign debt. In 2003, government reserves reached $5 billion.

The main oil produced and used in Yemen is Marib oil. Marib oil contains associated natural gas. Proven reserves of 10 to 13 trillion cubic feet (283 to 368 km³) could sustain a liquid natural gas (LNG) export project.


GDP (purchasing power parity):	$19.37 billion (2005 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate):	$14.34 billion (2005 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:	2.4% (2005 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):	$900 (2005 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:	agriculture: 13.5% industry: 47.2% services: 39.3% (2005 est.)
Labor force:	5.83 million (2005 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:	note: most people are employed in agriculture and herding; services, construction, industry, and commerce account for less than one-fourth of the labor force
Unemployment rate:	35% (2003 est.)
Population below poverty line:	45.2% (2003)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:	lowest 10%: 3% highest 10%: 25.9% (2003)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:	33.4 (1998)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):	11.8% (2005 est.)
Investment (gross fixed):	14.2% of GDP (2005 est.)
Budget:	revenues: $5.616 billion expenditures: $5.719 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2005 est.)
Public debt:	34.4% of GDP (2005 est.)
Agriculture - products:	grain, fruits, vegetables, pulses, qat, coffee, cotton; dairy products, livestock (sheep, goats, cattle, camels), poultry; fish
Industries:	crude oil production and petroleum refining; small-scale production of cotton textiles and leather goods; food processing; handicrafts; small aluminum products factory; cement; commercial ship repair
Industrial production growth rate:	3% (2003 est.)
Electricity - production:	3.848 billion kWh (2003 est.)
Electricity - consumption:	2.827 billion kWh (2003 est.)
Electricity - exports:	0 kWh (2003)
Electricity - imports:	0 kWh (2003)
Oil - production:	387,500 bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - consumption:	80,000 bbl/day (2003 est.)
Oil - exports:	370,300 bbl/day (2003)
Oil - imports:	NA bbl/day
Oil - proved reserves:	4.37 billion bbl (2005 est.)
Natural gas - production:	0 cu m (2003 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:	0 cu m (2003 est.)
Natural gas - exports:	0 cu m (2003 est.)
Natural gas - imports:	0 cu m (2003 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves:	478.6 billion cu m (2005)
Current account balance:	$1.224 billion (2005 est.)
Exports:	$6.387 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)
Exports - commodities:	crude oil, coffee, dried and salted fish
Exports - partners:	China 36.3%, Chile 19.1%, Thailand 12.5%, Japan 5.4%, South Korea 4.4%, US 4% (2005)
Imports:	$4.19 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)
Imports - commodities:	food and live animals, machinery and equipment, chemicals
Imports - partners:	UAE 14.4%, Saudi Arabia 11.4%, China 9%, Kuwait 5%, India 4.4%, Turkey 4.4% (2005)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:	$6.143 billion (2005 est.)
Debt - external:	$5.347 billion (2005 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:	$2.3 billion (2003-07 disbursements)
Currency (code):	Yemeni rial (YER)
Exchange rates:	Yemeni rials per US dollar - 192.67 (2005), 184.78 (2004), 183.45 (2003), 175.63 (2002), 168.67 (2001)
Fiscal year:	calendar year

MGA PRESIDENTE NG YEMEN

Ali Abdullah Saleh (March 21, 1942)

1990-present

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Thursday, October 05, 2006

Israel

ISRAEL

Ø Uri ng pamahalaan: Parliamentary Democracy

Chief of State: President Moshe Katzav (July 31, 2000 – present)

Prime Minister: Ehud Olmert (May 2006-present)

EKONOMIYA

Ø Overview:

Israel has a technologically advanced market economy with substantial government participation. It depends on imports of crude oil, grains, raw materials, and military equipment. Despite limited natural resources, Israel has intensively developed its agricultural and industrial sectors over the past 20 years. Israel imports substantial quantities of grain, but is largely self-sufficient in other agricultural products. Cut diamonds, high-technology equipment, and agricultural products (fruits and vegetables) are the leading exports. Israel usually posts sizable current account deficits, which are covered by large transfer payments from abroad and by foreign loans. Roughly half of the government's external debt is owed to the US, which is its major source of economic and military aid. The bitter Israeli-Palestinian conflict; difficulties in the high-technology, construction, and tourist sectors; and fiscal austerity in the face of growing inflation led to small declines in GDP in 2001 and 2002. The economy rebounded in 2003 and 2004, growing at a 4% rate each year, as the government tightened fiscal policy and implemented structural reforms to boost competition and efficiency in the markets. In 2005, rising consumer confidence, tourism, and foreign direct investment - as well as higher demand for Israeli exports - boosted GDP by 4.7%.
GDP (purchasing power parity):	$154.5 billion (2005 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate):	$114.3 billion (2005 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:	5.2% (2005 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):	$24,600 (2005 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:	agriculture: 2.6% industry: 31.7% services: 65.7% (2003 est.)
Labor force:	2.42 million (2005 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:	agriculture, forestry, and fishing 2.6%, manufacturing 20.2%, construction 7.5%, commerce 12.8%, transport, storage, and communications 6.2%, finance and business 13.1%, personal and other services 6.4%, public services 31.2% (1996)

HISTORY NG ISRAEL

The Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel (Hebrew: הכרזת העצמאות), May 14, 1948, was the official announcement that a new Jewish state, named the State of Israel (Medinat Yisrael in Hebrew), had been formally established in the British Mandate of Palestine, the land where the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah had once been.

It has been called the start of the "Third Jewish Commonwealth" by some observers. The "First Jewish Commonwealth" ended with the destruction of Solomon's Temple, and the second with the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem two thousand years ago.

Historical background

The Declaration of Independence of the State of Israel was publicly read in Tel Aviv on May 14, 1948, before the expiration of the British Mandate of Palestine at midnight. It was drafted during the preceding months, and the final version was a result of a compromise between the various parts of the Israeli public of that time. On May 14, 1948, the Vaad Leumi (Jewish National Council) gathered at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, and approved the proclamation.

Iceland played an important role in the establishment of the State of Israel, as Ambassador Thor Thors tabled the historical resolution of the establishment of the State of Israel on November 29, 1947 at the United Nations General Assembly, and thereby paved the way for the proclamation of Israel’s independence on May 15, 1948. (Mr Peter Gad Naschitz, Honorary Consul General of Iceland 2006)

However, "On May 12, the Jewish national administration was convened in order to decide whether to accept the American proposal for a truce or to declare the new state. A vote was taken and the decision to declare independence forthwith was supported by six of the ten voting members." (pages 5 & 7 of "The Evolution of the Israeli-Egyptian Rivalry, 1948-1979" by Professor of Political Science Dr. Zeev Maoz of Tel-Aviv University [1]).

The new state and its government was recognized de facto minutes later by the United States and three days later de jure by the Soviet Union (Stalin thought a communist or communist-oriented Jewish state could be a useful "thorn in the back" of his capitalist rivals in the Middle East). It was however opposed by many others, particularly Arabs (both the surrounding Arab states and the Palestinian Arabs), who felt it was being established at their expense.

The declaration is written in a style reminiscent of UN resolutions, beginning with preambulatory sentences explaining the causes for the declaration and the right of Jews to an independent country, and then operative sentences detailing the attributes of the forthcoming State of Israel.

[edit]

Context of the Declaration of the State of Israel

The document commences by drawing a direct line from Biblical times to the present:

...the Land of Israel, was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped. Here they first attained to statehood, created cultural values of national and universal significance and gave to the world the eternal Book of Books.

It acknowledges the Jewish exile over the millennia, mentioning both ancient "faith" and new "politics":

After being forcibly exiled from their land, the people kept faith with it throughout their Dispersion and never ceased to pray and hope for their return to it and for the restoration in it of their political freedom.

It speaks of the urge of Jews to return to their ancient homeland:

Impelled by this historic and traditional attachment, Jews strove in every successive generation to re-establish themselves in their ancient homeland. In recent decades they returned in their masses.

It describes Jewish immigrants to Israel in the following terms:

Pioneers ... and defenders, they made deserts bloom, revived the Hebrew language, built villages and towns, and created a thriving community controlling its own economy and culture, loving peace but knowing how to defend itself, bringing the blessings of progress to all the country's inhabitants, and aspiring towards independent nationhood.

In 1897, at the summons of the spiritual father of the Jewish State, Theodore Herzl, the First Zionist Congress convened and proclaimed the right of the Jewish people to national rebirth in what it claimed to be its own country. This right was supported by the British government in the Balfour Declaration of November 2, 1917 and re-affirmed in the Mandate of the League of Nations which, in particular, gave international sanction to the historic connection between the Jewish people and Palestine and to the right of the Jewish people to rebuild its National Home.

The European Holocaust of 1939 - 1945 is part of the imperative for the re-settlement of the homeland:

The catastrophe which recently befell the Jewish people—the massacre of millions of Jews in Europe—was another clear demonstration of the urgency of solving the problem of its homelessness by re-establishing in Israel the Jewish State, which would open the gates of the homeland wide to every Jew and confer upon the Jewish people the status of a fully privileged member of the community of nations.
Survivors of the Nazi Holocaust in Europe, as well as Jews from other parts of the world, continued to migrate to Israel, undaunted by difficulties, restrictions and dangers, and never ceased to assert their right to a life of dignity, freedom and honest toil in their national homeland.

In World War II, the Jewish community of Palestine supported the Allied Forces against the Axis Powers, and in particular against the Nazis, while some members of the Arab Palestinian community supported the Nazis. The declaration goes on to say:

"the Jewish community of this country contributed its full share to the struggle of the freedom- and peace-loving nations against the forces of Nazi wickedness and, by the blood of its soldiers and its war effort, gained the right to be reckoned among the peoples who founded the United Nations.
On November 29, 1947, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution calling for the establishment of a Jewish State in Israel, requiring the inhabitants of Israel to take such steps as were necessary on their part for the implementation of that resolution. This recognition by the United Nations of the right of the Jewish people to establish their State is irrevocable.

On the issues of sovereignty and self-determination:

This right is the natural right of the Jewish people to be masters of their own fate, like all other nations, in their own sovereign State.
Thus members and representatives of the Jews of Palestine and of the Zionist movement upon the end of the British Mandate, by virtue of "natural and historic right" and based on the United Nations resolution ... Hereby declare the establishment of a Jewish state in the land of Israel to be known as the State of Israel.
...Israel will be open for Jewish immigration and for the "Ingathering of the Exiles"; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

The new state pledged that it will take steps to bring about the economic union of the whole of Eretz-Israel and appealed:

in the very midst of the onslaught launched against us now for months - to the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel to preserve peace and participate in the up building of the State on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions. We extend our hand to all neighboring states and their peoples in an offer of peace and good neighborliness, and appeal to them to establish bonds of cooperation and mutual help with the sovereign Jewish people settled in its own land. The State of Israel is prepared to do its share in a common effort for the advancement of the entire Middle East.

A final appeal is made to the Jewish people throughout the Diaspora to rally round the Jews of Eretz-Israel in the tasks of immigration and up building and to stand by them in the struggle for the realization of their age-old dream, the redemption of Israel.

Concluding by "Placing our trust in the Rock of Israel [language which was the result of a compromise between religious and secular groups]..." the signatories affixed their signatures. First to sign was David Ben-Gurion, and some of the famous names associated with the founding of the state: Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, Golda Myerson (Meir), Rabbi Yehuda Leib Hacohen Fishman, Moshe Sharett, and Ben-Zion Sternberg.

MGA PRESIDENTE NG ISRAEL

Moshe Katsav (1945-)

(July 31, 2000-present)

Moshe Katsav (Hebrew מֹשֶׁה קַצָּב, Persian موشه کاتساو), born December 5, 1945) is eighth and current President of Israel (since 2000). He is married to Gila Katsav.

Moshe Katsav was born in Yazd, Iran. He moved with his family to Tehran when he was an infant; in August 1951, they emigrated to Israel. He remains fluent in Persian. Katsav joined the Likud party and became the mayor of Qiryat Mal'akhi, a small town in Israel. He was subsequently elected as a Member of the Knesset.

Pres. Moshe Katsav accompanied by Knesset Speaker Avraham Burg reviewing IDF honor guard at his swearing ceremony in the Knesset

After serving as Deputy Prime Minister in the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, Katsav vied for the position of President, running against Shimon Peres. In a surprising upset, he defeated Peres to become the president of Israel, being elected by the Knesset on July 31, 2000. He took 63 votes (over 57 for Peres), two more than the required majority of 61, and was sworn in on August 1. He is the first President of Israel to have been sworn in for a seven-year term as well as the first candidate from the right wing Likud party to be elected to the office. If Katsav had been defeated, Peres would have been the first ex-Prime Minister to be elected President.

The office of the Israeli President is largely ceremonial, with no executive powers save pardoning prisoners and commuting sentences. Nevertheless, each president emphasizes different aspects of the role during his tenure. Though expected to remain neutral from Israeli politics and represent the entire nation, most presidents have expressed their views in statements or actions. Katsav supported the unsuccessful 2002 cease-fire plan between Israel and the Palestinians (rejected by then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon) and refused to pardon Yigal Amir, the convicted murderer of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

v Ezer Weizman (1924-2005)

v (1993-2000)

Ezer Weizman - air force general and politician, nephew of Israel's first President Professor Chaim Weizmann, and former President of the State of Israel - was sworn into office on May 13, 1993.

Ezer Weizman was born in Tel Aviv in 1924, and raised in Haifa. He began his long military career as a fighter pilot during World War II, joining the Royal Air Force in 1942 at age 18. Returning to Mandatory Palestine after the war, Weizman was one of a handful of pilots who founded the "Air Service" of the Haganah. He served as a fighter pilot during the War of Independence, commanded a squadron, and later (1958-66) was O.C. of the Israel Air Force, in which capacity he introduced the use of electronic warfare systems in aircraft. During the Six-Day War he was Chief of Operations of the General Staff, and later Deputy Chief of Staff. He retired in 1969 with the rank of major-general, and turned to politics.

An outspoken individual with strong political views and a vivid personality, Ezer Weizman maintained a high and at times highly-provocative public profile, even while in the army. In the two and a half decades following his retirement from the military, Weizman served in many key political posts. He ran the election campaign that brought Likud leader Menachem Begin to power in 1977, after nearly thirty years in opposition; served as Minister of Defense; and was a member of the Israeli negotiating team to the talks that culminated in the Camp David Accords. In 1980, Weizman, who had gradually moderated his views, retired from politics to pursue a business career. Returning to public life four years later, he formed a small independent party and served as a government minister for the next six years - first as Minister for Arab Affairs, then as Minister of Science and Technology. In 1992 he retired from active politics and a year later, he was elected as the seventh President of the State of Israel.

Almost without actual powers, the Presidency is an institution that relies heavily on style. Ezer Weizman's strong personality and unique manner, which have pervaded every task he has undertaken - from air force commander to government minister - have also colored his Presidency. Weizman's down-to-earth manner has been quite different from the statesmanlike image and "elevated status" that characterized most of his predecessors. His unique character has endowed the Presidency with an informality and lack of reserve that reflects the warm, dynamic and unstructured nature of Israel's society. Thus, the office has in many ways come to mirror the typical Israeli - direct, familial and unceremonious, candid and spontaneous.

While President Weizman has conducted state visits to Great Britain, India, South Africa and Turkey, meeting national and Jewish leaders in his travels, he has focused more on Israel itself and its citizens - Jews, Arabs and Druze - and on Israel's immediate neighbors.

In addition to planned visits to various communities and participation in major public events, Weizman has adopted a Presidential schedule that includes unplanned and spontaneous visits closely tied to unfolding events, many of them tragic. Thus, during the July 1993 "Accountability" campaign against Hizballah terrorism, the President demonstrated his solidarity with Israeli citizens living on the northern border by visiting them while their towns were still under shell-fire, staying the night with the inhabitants and even sleeping in a bunker with IDF soldiers. President Weizman also visits the wounded in hospitals and the families of the fallen and of terror victims in their homes. Weizman has applied the one real power of the Presidency - the right to grant Presidential pardons - in his own way, by refusing to sign some pardons recommended by the Ministry of Justice.

President Ezer Weizman renewed an institution established by one of his predecessors - a monthly gathering of intellectuals and academics entitled the "Bible and Jewish Sources Group", dedicated to examining and discussing core Jewish issues. This rather exclusive and prestigious circle had undergone a change of venue; it is now a "traveling forum." Monthly deliberations are conducted each time in a different outlying location, with former Supreme Court Justice Menachem Elon acting as moderator.

Recently, Ezer Weizman has taken a more active role in political developments than did Presidents in the past - first behind-the-scenes, later publicly - and his actions have been a source of public controversy. Political figures involved in the peace process have met with Weizman, even though this is not part of diplomatic protocol. Moreover, the President has openly criticized the government's performance and attempted to prevent derailing of the peace process. His unique brand of personal diplomacy, his charm and his personal ties have opened communication lines between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and with Egypt.

Ezer Weizman was re-elected to a second term in May 1998, and resigned from the Presidency in July 2000.

CHAIM HERZOG (1918-1997)

(1983-1993)

Chaim Herzog - diplomat, soldier and scholar, politician and journalist, lawyer and legislator - was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1918. The son of the Chief Rabbi of Ireland, Rabbi Isaac Halevi Herzog (who later became the second Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel), Chaim Herzog grew up in Dublin, receiving a thorough Jewish education, while attending Wesley College. He immigrated to Israel in 1935 at age 17 to study at a yeshiva (talmudic academy) and to begin the study of law.

Herzog embarked on a long career associated with military affairs. He served in the Haganah during the Arab Revolt of 1936-39. While in London to complete his law studies (1942) he joined the British army and served as an intelligence officer in the Normandy campaign and in occupied Germany. He was discharged with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. In 1948, when the State of Israel was established, he became an officer in the IDF. Herzog rose to the rank of major-general before retiring in 1962.

Over the next two decades, Chaim Herzog combined a business career with public service, first as managing director of an industrial development group, later as a senior partner in a Tel Aviv law firm. He was chief military commentator for Israel Radio during both the Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur War and became renowned for his balanced broadcasts which boosted the morale of the population. Herzog was called back to active duty after the 1967 Six-Day War, to serve as the first military governor of Judea, Samaria and East Jerusalem.

Another milestone of Herzog's multifaceted career were his three years as Israel's ambassador to the UN in particularly trying times (1975-78). Israel's image was eroded by the hostile coalition of the Communist bloc and the Arab countries. The tension reached a height in November 1975 with the passing of the General Assembly Resolution equating Zionism with racism. This act prompted the usually dispassionate ambassador to tear up the draft resolution on the rostrum at the UN at the conclusion of a spirited defense of his country.

Chaim Herzog authored a host of books on military history and was a much sought-after commentator on political and military affairs. In 1981, he was elected a member of the Knesset for the Labor party. He resigned from the Knesset after his election as President, and was sworn in as the sixth President of the State of Israel on May 5, 1983. Chaim Herzog traveled widely. Endowed with impeccable English and a cosmopolitan manner, much of his efforts as President were devoted to enhancing Israel's standing abroad. In official and state visits to over thirty countries - including the first visits by an Israeli head of state to Germany and China, a visit of reconciliation to Spain marking 500 years since the expulsion of the Jews, and an ice-breaking tour of the Pacific - he addressed fifteen parliaments, made countless public appearances, spoke to the media and held private meetings with foreign leaders. Explaining Israel's position, he challenged unfair criticism from the media and foreign governments, encouraged closer diplomatic relations and promoted trade relations. Herzog also emphasized the centrality of Israel and advocated a strong Zionist connection between Israel and Jewish communities around the world, stressing the importance of Jewish education. During his term of office, indecisive election results led to six changes of government and four changes of Prime Minister, and President Herzog often had to play the role of behind-the-scenes arbitrator.

While refraining from criticizing government policies in public, President Herzog was not aloof to politics. In his own urbane but frank manner, he was far more outspoken than his predecessors. Emphasizing that he was the President of "all Israelis," Herzog took pains to visit the Arab and Druze minorities as well as Jewish settlers in the administered areas. He also took a public stand on hotly-debated issues. He called for limitations to be imposed on the freedom of political fringe groups whose ideologies constituted incitement to violence, and he employed the Presidential pardon in a number of controversial cases. President Herzog exercised his authority in the electoral system of the time, and played a key role in the process of naming a government. In 1984 and 1988, he guided the formation of a national unity government.

Chaim Herzog stepped down from the Presidency in May 1993. Returning to private life, he devoted himself primarily to speaking tours, journalistic commentary, board memberships, and to writing his autobiography, Living History: A Memoir, published in 1996. He was actively involved in developing the Center for Middle East Studies and Diplomacy at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Be'er Sheva which today carries his name. Chaim Herzog died on April 17th, 1997. Several educational institutions are dedicated to his memory. Yad Chaim Herzog was established by his family to perpetuate his memory and legacy.

YITZHAK NAVON (1921)

(1978-1983)

Yitzhak Navon - man of the arts, senior administrator and veteran politician - was born in 1921 in Jerusalem, the son of a long line of renowned Sephardi rabbis. His family has lived in Jerusalem for over 300 years and can trace its ancestry back to the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492. Having graduated from the Hebrew University with a major in Islamic Studies and Pedagogy, Navon served as head of the Arab section of the Haganah in Jerusalem in the critical years 1946-1948.

During the first years of the state, Yitzhak Navon served as a member of the diplomatic corps in Latin America. In 1951 he began a decade-long career in senior administrative posts in the offices of Israel's first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, and of its first Minister of Foreign Affairs, Moshe Sharett.

Appointed as head of the Cultural Division of the Ministry of Education and Culture in 1963, Navon mobilized hundreds of IDF female soldiers to become Hebrew teachers and to battle illiteracy among immigrants on the periphery - geographically and socio-economically. From 1965 to 1978, Navon was a member of Knesset, serving as deputy speaker of the house and chairman of the foreign affairs and defense committee. Concurrently, he was active in Israel-Diaspora affairs, serving as chairman of the executive committee of the World Zionist Movement and as chairman of the America-Israel Cultural Fund.

Throughout his career in public life, Navon was both spokesman and source of pride of the Sephardi community in Israel. He won acclaim over the years for his writings, plays and television programs presenting and popularizing the life of the Sephardi communities in Spain and in Jerusalem.

In 1978, at the age of 57, Yitzhak Navon was elected fifth President of the State of Israel. He was noticeably younger than his predecessors, bringing to the President's residence his wife and two relatively young children - which changed the atmosphere of the official Presidential home.

Yitzhak Navon served during a period of heightened political, social and ethnic polarization, public controversy over the withdrawal from Sinai and the evacuation of Jewish settlements there, and the 1982 war in Lebanon.

During his Presidency, he strove to act as a bridge between Israel's ethnic groups, religious and secular, Sephardim and Ashkenazim, left and right, Jews and Arabs. Striving to draw those on the periphery into the mainstream of Israeli life, he visited neglected settlements and disadvantaged urban neighborhoods, encouraging community self-confidence. Navon's warmth and diplomacy and the prestige of his office did much to defuse a potentially explosive situation on the eve of the withdrawal from Sinai. He also opened the President's residence to writers and performers from across the cultural spectrum.

One of the highlights of his term of office was his state visit to Egypt in 1980 at the invitation of President Anwar Sadat. He impressed his hosts with his eloquent Arabic, breaking the ice and demolishing stereotypes of Israelis and Jews as a "foreign element" to the region. He also paid an state visit to the United States, at the invitation of President Reagan.

While most of his energies were channeled to promoting harmony and consensus-building in a time of social and political tension, Yitzhak Navon was the first Israeli President to depart from the ceremonial role of the Presidency prescribed by law. Taking a public stand on a controversial political issue and indirectly criticizing the government, Navon called for the establishment of an independent commission of inquiry on the events in Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Lebanon, when Christian Phalangist forces massacred Muslim refugees in an area under Israeli control. This was an act that has ushered in an era of a more "political" Presidency.

After completing a five-year term in office, Yitzhak Navon re-entered partisan politics. In 1984 he was re-elected to the Knesset and appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education and Culture in the national unity government formed after general elections. He was one of the architects who planned the events marking the 500th anniversary of the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, and signed the first cultural agreement between Israel and Spain.

He now serves as chairman of the National Authority for Ladino, Neot Kedumim (a biblical landscape reserve), the Jerusalem Rubin Academy of Music and Dance, and as honorary chairman of the Abraham Fund for the promotion of coexistence between Jews and Arabs in Israel.

Mr. Navon is the father of a daughter, Na'ama, and a son, Erez. His wife, Ofira, who died of cancer in 1993, was a clinical psychologist.

EPRHRAIM KATZIR (1916)

(1973-1978)

Professor Ephraim Katzir - eminent scientist and the fourth President of the State of Israel - was born in Kiev in 1916 as Ephraim Katchalski. Katzir, who Hebraicized his name when he became President, was what Israelis call "almost a Sabra"; his family immigrated to British-ruled Palestine when he was six years old, and he grew up in Jerusalem. In 1932 he began studying biology at the Hebrew University on Mount Scopus, where he did both his undergraduate and graduate work, receiving his Ph.D. in 1941.

Like other students at the time, Ephraim Katzir was a member of the Haganah, the underground Jewish defense organization, and played a role in the creation of a military research and development unit developing explosives, propellants and more. During the War of Independence, he was appointed head of the IDF science corps.

Professor Katzir was one of the founding scientists of the Weizmann Institute of Science in 1949, an institution with which he has been associated throughout his professional career, both before and after serving as President. As founder and head of the Institute's Biophysics Department, Katzir was involved in seminal work on synthetic protein models that contributed significantly to the understanding of biology, chemistry and physics, and deepened understanding of the genetic code and of immune responses. His pioneering work on immobilized enzymes used in oral antibiotics, for which he received the Japan Prize in 1985, has revolutionized a number of industries and branches of medical research.

Three landmark events "defined" Katzir's Presidency. His term in office began on May 24, 1973 - just over four months prior to the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War and exactly a year after the tragic death of his brother, Professor Aharon Katzir, who was murdered in the May 1972 terrorist attack at Ben-Gurion Airport. A third momentous event, this a joyous one - the visit of President Anwar Sadat of Egypt in Jerusalem in November 1977 - took place near the end of his term as President.

Katzir placed special emphasis on education and science as a fulcrum to economic prosperity. As a former chief scientist of the IDF (1966-68), Ephraim Katzir made numerous tours of army units and military research facilities, as well as of industrial complexes and educational facilities, including those in development towns. Using his personal standing and the prestige of his office, he galvanized academics to address the danger of assimilation in Diaspora communities by pressing for the establishment of departments of Jewish studies at colleges and universities abroad - deemed the "last chance" to expose Jewish youth in the Diaspora to their heritage and Jewish identity.

In 1966 he accepted the invitation of Prime Minister Levi Eshkol to head a committee charged with advising the government on its future activities in science and technology. The result was the appointment, in several government ministries, of Chief Scientists charged with promoting applied research in governmental institutions, institutes of higher education and industry, leading to greater cooperation between the three sectors. It also led to a dramatic increase in government spending on applied research, causing a surge in innovative science-based activities, especially in industry and agriculture.

Throughout his five years in office, President Katzir emphasized science and higher education, but also reached out to numerous individual families in distress and devoted much time to promoting volunteerism as an avenue for narrowing educational and socio-economic gaps. During his term of office, the Presidential Award for Volunteerism was inaugurated - an annual prize granted in recognition of twelve individuals who distinguished themselves in volunteer work.

Ephraim Katzir stepped down from the Presidency in May 1978 to return to scientific research. Since returning to the Weizmann Institute, Professor Katzir has given priority to the encouragement of biotechnological research in Israel and played a part in the foundation of a Department of Biotechnology at Tel Aviv University. Convinced that Israel needs to develop a highly-skilled workforce for its hi-tech sector, Ephraim Katzir also serves as World President of ORT - a network of vocational schools.

ZALMAN SHAZAR (1889-1974)

(1963-1973)

Zalman Shazar - labor Zionist leader, intellectual and historian - was elected President of the State of Israel in 1963.

Shazar was born in White Russia in 1889 as Shneor Zalman Rubashov, son of a Habad Hassidic family. From his initials - SZR - Shazar later derived his Hebrew name. He received a traditional Jewish education in a yeshiva (talmudic academy), but was widely read in secular literature, including socialist philosophy. Involved in labor Zionism from an early age, Shazar - an able publicist and editor - was arrested at age 18 by the Tzarist authorities for his revolutionary activity and writings.

When World War I broke out, Shazar was studying history and German philosophy and working as a journalist in Germany. Forbidden to leave the country, he became deeply involved in German Jewish life.

Immigrating to Palestine in 1924, he served in a variety of posts in the labor Zionist movement during the British Mandate, including those of editor of the Histadrut daily Davar, chairman of the Zionist Executive and head of the World Zionist Organization's Department for Education and Culture in the Diaspora. Shazar was elected as a member of the First Knesset and served as Israel's first Minister of Education and Culture in the critical years of mass immigration, when compulsory education and teaching Hebrew were essential tools for building social cohesion.

During Shazar's term of office as President of the State of Israel, the President's residence was relocated to modern premises in a quiet residential neighborhood of Jerusalem.

A gifted orator and a prolific writer of works ranging from historical tracts and polemics to poetry, Zalman Shazar infused the Presidency with an intellectual, even scholarly aura. His rich intellectual estate includes works on the history of Biblical criticism, the development of Yiddish literature, and the role of Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) as one of the roots of Jewish messianic movements.

President Zalman Shazar hosted 80th birthday celebrations for famous Israeli writers such as S. Y. Agnon and Gershom Shalom and established a special fund to assist scholars and writers, which continues to operate to this day.

One of the projects he launched was the study group on Diaspora Jewry, established in conjunction with the Institute of Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University. He invited academics to participate in a monthly gathering dedicated to examining and discussing intellectual and abstract issues in Jewish life. This rather exclusive and highly-prestigious circle, which brought together Jerusalem's intellectual elite with representatives from Diaspora communities, became an "institution" in itself. Each guest lecture was followed by a discussion, which was often summarized by Shazar himself and subsequently published. Shazar also strove to enhance the stature of the State of Israel by bringing distinguished writers and scientists to the country as his personal guests, in order to expose such public-opinion makers to Israel and turn them into ambassadors of good will for the new state. Among those who came, at Shazar's invitation, was author Isaac Bashevis Singer. Unlike many Zionist leaders, Shazar did not reject Yiddish culture or totally abandon his religious upbringing. At a time when many other Israeli leaders publicly expounded the hegemony of Hebrew culture as part of their rejection of Diaspora life, Shazar remained firmly rooted in the wellsprings of his early years, with an affinity for Hassidism and for East European Jewish culture as a whole. He established a synagogue at the President's residence and reached out to Jewish communities in the Diaspora. Distinguished guests from abroad were always taken to Shazar's Saturday morning Kiddush after synagogue services.

Shazar served two five-year terms in office, and stepped down from the Presidency in May of 1973. He died on October 5, 1974, in Jerusalem. The Zalman Shazar Center in Jerusalem - a publishing house devoted to works on Jewish history - was established in his memory.

ITZHAK BEN-ZVI (1884-1963)

(1952-1963)

Yitzhak Ben-Zvi - Zionist labor movement leader and historian - was elected the second President of the State of Israel on December 8, 1952. Ben-Zvi was born in the town of Poltava in the Ukraine in 1884 as Yitzhak Shimshelevitz, the son of a Jewish scholar and writer who Hebraicized his name to Zvi Shimshi (thus, the name Ben-Zvi - "son of Zvi.") Born into a family steeped in Jewish tradition and Zionist fervor, Ben-Zvi's name is closely associated with Jewish self-defense: at the age of twenty, in the wake of the 1903 Kishinev Pogrom, he was one of the founders of a Jewish defense organization in the Ukraine. After immigrating to Palestine in 1907, Ben-Zvi was a central figure in Hashomer - the defense organization that guarded Jewish agricultural settlements in the early days of the Zionist enterprise.

Expelled from Palestine by the Ottoman authorities (together with David Ben-Gurion, later the first Prime Minister of Israel) during the First World War because of Zionist activities, the pair organized a base for labor Zionism in the United States. In 1917, they joined the 39th Kings' Fusiliers, returning to Palestine with the British army. Later, in the wake of Arab attacks on Jewish communities in the early 1920s, Ben-Zvi became a founding member of the Haganah, the underground Jewish defense organization.

An avid socialist, Ben-Zvi was a leader of socialist Zionist parties from an early age, and was among the founders of the Histadrut - General Federation of Labor in 1920. A key political figure, he served in many senior posts. Between 1931 and 1948 he was first chairman and then President of the Va'ad Haleumi (the national council) - a "diplomatic post" in which he served as the chief representative of the Jewish community vis-a-vis the mandatory authorities. Elected to the First Knesset in January 1949, Itzhak Ben-Zvi was chosen as President of the State of Israel in 1952.

Yitzhak Ben-Zvi resigned his Knesset post and moved the President's residence from Rehovot to Jerusalem. However, he was adamant that the President should serve as an example for the citizenry and that his home should reflect the austerity and simplicity of the times. Thus, President Ben-Zvi insisted on living in a wooden prefabricated dwelling - accommodations that were augmented by two larger similar buildings in the yard, used for official receptions.

It was Ben-Zvi, renowned for his warmth, openness and simple manner, who first held some of the annual events which have since become traditions - including "open house" at the President's residence during the festival of Sukkot and the annual Independence Day reception, an event in which ordinary citizens participate, in addition to the reception held for local dignitaries and the diplomatic corps.

Ben-Zvi took great interest in the various Jewish communities who came to Israel, and in the history of Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel. He focused on the traditions, rituals and religious art of Oriental Jewish communities - Yemenite, Persian, Kurdish, Bucharan and others. He himself wrote some twenty volumes on the history of Jewish communities as well as on the unbroken chain of Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel since the days of the Second Temple. His work laid the foundations for Yad Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, which is devoted to the study of Jewish communities as well as of the Land of Israel and Jerusalem. However, Ben-Zvi's devotion to the "Tribes of Israel," as they were called at the time, was more than academic. A proponent of "diversity" decades before the word became popular, Ben-Zvi invited representatives of different Jewish ethnic communities and of minority communities to the President's residence - a monthly event attended by 100-200 guests from all over the country. Each group related the history of its community, its customs, rituals and traditions, and displayed the items which evolved around these traditions.

In keeping with this interest, Ben-Zvi enhanced the decor of the President's residence with ceremonial objects and handicrafts of different ethnic communities. A rug woven by Yemenite women sparked the establishment of Maskit - a prestigious non-profit chain which for decades encouraged such crafts and marketed them.

Ben-Zvi served two full five-year terms as President, and was reelected for a third term in December 1962 (when the Presidency was not yet limited by law to two terms). He died six months later on April 23, 1963.

After his death, the Yad Yitzhak Ben-Zvi research institute was established on the site of the wooden buildings which had served for over a decade as the official residence of the second President of the State of Israel.

CHAIM WEIZMANN (1874-1952)

(1949-1952)

The first President of Israel, Professor Chaim Weizmann - scientist and statesman - was among the leaders who were instrumental in the establishment of the State of Israel.

Born in 1874 in a small town in Russia, Chaim Weizmann received a combined Jewish and secular education. He pursued scientific studies in Germany and Switzerland and became involved in Zionist activities. In 1904 he immigrated to Great Britain and began his scientific career as a research chemist at Manchester University. During World War I he was acclaimed for his discovery of a method to produce synthetic acetone and came into contact with the "movers and shakers" of British society, among them Lord Balfour and Winston Churchill.

Endowed with great personal charm and eloquence, Weizmann became the spokesman of the Zionist cause in British political and intellectual circles. His efforts culminated in the Balfour Declaration of November 2, 1917, in which the British government expressed its sympathy for Zionist aims in Palestine. The declaration set the stage for the Mandate over Palestine which was granted to Britain by the League of Nations in 1922.

Throughout his life, Weizmann combined scientific endeavor with intensive involvement in Zionist activities. As a leader of the World Zionist Movement for many years, he was highly influential in formulating Zionist strategy and succeeded in broadening support for the Zionist movement and in mobilizing Jewish capital to further Zionist endeavors in Palestine, then under British mandate.

Meeting with President Truman in March 1948, Weizmann impressed upon the President the importance of establishing a Jewish state. This was undoubtedly one of the factors for the speedy recognition of the State of Israel by the United States.

One of the first acts of the Provisional Government of Israel was to appoint Chaim Weizmann as President of the Provisional Council of the State. In February 1949 - a month after Israel's first general elections - a special session of the Knesset elected him the first President of the State of Israel. After the swearing-in ceremony in Jerusalem on February 16, Weizmann's home in Rehovot became the official residence of the President of the State of Israel.

In April 1949 President Weizmann visited the United States. Met by crowds of record-breaking size, he mobilized an unprecedented $23 million in contributions for the State of Israel and for the fledgling scientific research facility which now bears his name - the Weizmann Institute of Science.

A man of action all his life, President Weizmann was disappointed by the mainly ceremonial role assigned to the President. However, his personal relationships with key figures in British political circles were instrumental in the recognition of Israel by Britain - de facto in January 1949 and de jure in April 1950.

By 1950, President Weizmann had to curtail his activities due to ill health, but he continued to receive foreign dignitaries and closely follow current events. He was re-elected to a second term in November 1951 (at the time the term of the President was directly linked to that of the Knesset) and was sworn in at his residence in Rehovot on November 25.

Very ill for most of his last year of life, the first President of the State of Israel, Professor Chaim Weizmann, died on November 9, 1952, and was buried, according to his wish, in the garden of his house, today part of the campus of the Weizmann Institute of Science.

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PRIME MINISTERS OF ISRAEL

EHUD OLMERT (1945-)

(2006-present)

Ehud Olmert was born in Binyamina in 1945.

He served in the IDF as combat infantry unit officer. After suffering injuries to a leg and an arm, He completed his military service in 1971 as a military correspondent for the IDF journal Bamachane. A lawyer by profession, he holds B.A. degree in psychology and philosophy (1968) as well an LL.B. (1973) from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Ehud Olmert was a Knesset Member from 1973, serving on the House, Constitution, Law & Justice Committee, State Control, Foreign Affairs && Defense, Finance, Education & Culture, and Internal Affairs & Environment Committees.

From 1979-1982 he volunteered in the IDF and completed an officers’ course while serving as an MK, volunteering for reserve service in Lebanon.

From 1988-1990 he served as Minister Without Portfolio responsible for minority affairs, and from 1990 until 1992 as Minister of Health.

In November 1993, Olmert was elected Mayor of Jerusalem, advancing national infrastructure projects such as major thoroughfares and the light rail. He resigned from the Knesset in 1998. After his re-election to the Knesset in 2003, he resigned from his position as mayor in February 2003.

In February 2003, Ehud Olmert was appointed Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor and Communications, holding the latter portfolio until January 2005. In August 2005 he was appointed Acting Minister of Finance, and in November 2005, Minister of Finance.

On January 4, 2006, when Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a brain hemmorhage Olmert was designated Acting Prime Minister in accordance with with the Basic Law: Government and on April 14, Interim Prime Minister.

Following elections to the 17th Knesset as head of the Kadima party, Ehud Olmert became Prime Minister of the 31st Government of Israel. He also holds the Social Welfare portfolio.

He is married, with four children.

ARIEL SHARON (1928- )

Ariel ('Arik') Sharon was born in 1928 in Kfar Malal. He served in the IDF for more than 25 years, retiring with the rank of Major-General. He holds an LL.B in Law from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1962).

Sharon joined the Haganah at the age of 14. During the 1948 War of Independence, he commanded an infantry company in the Alexandroni Brigade. In 1953, he founded and led the "101" special commando unit which carried out retaliatory operations. Sharon was appointed commander of a paratroop brigade in 1956 and fought in the Sinai Campaign. In 1957 he attended the Camberley Staff College in Great Britain.

During 1958-62, Sharon served as an infantry brigade commander and then as Infantry School Commander. He was appointed Head of the IDF Northern Command in 1964 and Head of the Army Training Branch in 1966. He participated in the 1967 Six Day War as commander of an armored division. In 1969 he was appointed Head of the IDF Southern Command.

Sharon resigned from the army in 1973, but was recalled to active military service in the October 1973 Yom Kippur War to command an armored division. He led the crossing of the Suez Canal which brought about victory in the war and eventual peace with Egypt.

Ariel Sharon was elected to the Knesset in December 1973, but resigned a year later, serving as security adviser to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (1975-76).

He was again elected to the Knesset in 1977 on the Shlomzion ticket. Appointed Minister of Agriculture in Menachem Begin's first government (1977-81), he pursued agricultural cooperation with Egypt.

In 1981 Ariel Sharon was appointed Defense Minister, serving in this post during the Lebanon War, which brought about the destruction of the PLO terrorist infrastructure in Lebanon. In the realm of international relations, he was instrumental in renewing diplomatic relations with the African nations which had broken off ties with Israel during the Yom Kippur War. In November 1981, he brought about the first strategic cooperation agreement with the U.S. and widened defense ties between Israel and many nations. He also helped bring thousands of Jews from Ethiopia through Sudan.

From 1983-84, Sharon served as Minister without Portfolio, and from 1984-1990 as Minister of Trade and Industry. In this capacity, he concluded the Free Trade Agreement with the U.S. in 1985.

From 1990-1992, he served as Minister of Construction and Housing and Chairman of the Ministerial Committee on Immigration and Absorption. Following the fall of the Soviet Union and the waves of immigration from Russia, he initiated and carried out a program to absorb the immigrants throughout the country, including the construction of 144,000 apartments.

From 1992-1996, he served as a member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

In 1996, Ariel Sharon was appointed Minister of National Infrastructure and was involved in fostering joint ventures with Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinians. He also served as Chairman of the Ministerial Committee for Bedouin advancement.

In 1998 Ariel Sharon was appointed Foreign Minister and headed the permanent status negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.

While serving as Foreign Minister, Sharon met with U.S., European, Palestinian and Arab leaders to advance the peace process. He worked mostly to create and advance projects such as the Flagship Water Project funded by the international community to find a long-term solution to the region's water crisis and a basis to peaceful relations between Israel, Jordan, the Palestinians and other Middle Eastern countries.

Following the election of Ehud Barak as Prime Minister in May 1999, Ariel Sharon was called upon to become interim Likud party leader, and in September 1999 was elected Chairman of the Likud. He served as a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

On February 6, 2001, Ariel Sharon was elected Prime Minister. He presented his government to the Knesset on March 7, 2001. After calling early elections to the 16th Knesset, which were held on January 28, 2003, Ariel Sharon was charged by the president with the task of forming a government and presented his new government to the Knesset on February 27, 2003.

After forming a new party, Kadima, in anticipation of elections to the 17th Knesset, Prime Minister Sharon suffered a brain hemmorhage on January 4, 2006, and Ehud Olmert was designated Acting Prime Minister in accordance with with the Basic Law: Government. He has not regained consciousness.

He is widowed and has two sons.

EHUD BARAK (1942)

(1999-2001)

Ehud Barak was born in 1942 in Kibbutz Mishmar Hasharon.

He joined the Israel Defense Forces in 1959, and served as a soldier and commander of an elite unit, and in various other command positions including Tank Brigade Commander and Armored Division Commander, and General Staff positions, including Head of the IDF Intelligence Branch. During the 1967 Six Day War, Barak served as a reconnaissance group commander, and in the 1973 Yom Kippur War as a tank battalion commander on the southern front in Sinai. In January 1982, he was appointed Head of the IDF Planning Branch and promoted to Major General. During the 1982 "Peace for Galilee" operation, Major General Barak served as Deputy Commander of the Israeli force in Lebanon.

In April 1983, Maj.Gen. Barak was appointed Head of the Intelligence Branch at the IDF General Headquarters. In January 1986, he was appointed Commander of the IDF Central Command, and in May 1987 was appointed Deputy Chief-of-Staff.

In April 1991, he assumed the post of the 14th Chief of the General Staff and was promoted to the rank of Lt. General, the highest in the Israeli military.

Following the May 1994 signing of the Gaza-Jericho agreement with the Palestinians, Lt. General Barak oversaw the IDF's redeployment in the Gaza Strip and Jericho. He played a central role in finalizing the peace treaty with Jordan, signed in 1994, and met with his Syrian counterpart as part of the Syrian-Israeli negotiations.

General Barak was awarded the "Distinguished Service Medal" and four other citations for courage and operational excellence.

Barak holds a B.Sc. in Physics and Mathematics from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem (1976), and an M.Sc. in Engineering-Economic Systems from Stanford University, California (1978).

He served as Minister of the Interior from July-November 1995 and as Minister of Foreign Affairs from November 1995 until June 1996.

Elected to the Knesset in 1996, he served as a Member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

In 1996 Barak was elected Chairman of the Labor Party and in 1999 formed the One Israel Party from the Labor, Gesher and Meimad factions.

Ehud Barak was elected Prime Minister of Israel on May 17, 1999. He presented his government to the Knesset on July 6, 1999, assuming office as Prime Minister and Minister of Defense. He completed his term on March 7, 2001, following his defeat by Ariel Sharon in the February special election for prime minister.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU (1949-)

(1996-1999)

Benjamin Netanyahu - soldier, diplomat and the ninth Prime Minister of the State of Israel - was born in Tel Aviv in 1949 and grew up in Jerusalem. He spent his adolescent years in the United States, where his father - a noted historian - taught Jewish history.

Returning to Israel in 1967 to fulfill his military obligations, Netanyahu volunteered for an elite commando unit of the IDF and participated in a number of daring operations, including the release of hostages from a hijacked Sabena Airlines aircraft at Ben-Gurion Airport, an operation in which he was wounded. He was discharged from the IDF after six years with the rank of captain. Netanyahu then studied at MIT in Boston and received a B.Sc. in architecture and an M.Sc. in Management Studies. He also studied political science at MIT and Harvard University. In 1976 he was employed by the Boston Consulting Group, an international business consulting firm, and later joined the management of Rim Industries in Jerusalem.

Much affected by the death of his eldest brother Yoni - who had fallen while commanding the 1976 Entebbe rescue operation to free the passengers of an Air France airliner held hostage in Uganda - Benjamin Netanyahu initiated and organized two international conferences on ways to combat international terrorism, in 1979 in Jerusalem and in 1984 in Washington. These forums attracted key political figures and opinion-makers in the international community.

In 1982 Netanyahu joined Israel's diplomatic mission in the United States - serving for two years as Deputy Chief of Mission under then-ambassador Moshe Arens. He was also a member of the first delegation to the talks on strategic cooperation between Israel and the United States. In 1984, Netanyahu was appointed Israel's ambassador to the United Nations and held this position for four years. An articulate speaker, forceful debater, and media-oriented diplomat, he played a key role in efforts to enhance Israel's image and improve understanding of the country's security needs among the "movers and shakers" in American public life.

Soon after returning to Israel in 1988, Benjamin Netanyahu entered the political arena and was elected a Member of Knesset by the Likud party - a political movement with which his family had been identified ideologically for two generations - and was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. He served in this position for four years, marked by the intifada; the 1991 Gulf War; and the Madrid Peace Conference, which initiated direct talks between Israel and her neighbors. Netanyahu's talents, particularly in dealing with the media, again contributed greatly to Israel's standing abroad.

In 1993, Netanyahu was elected Chairman of the Likud Party and its candidate for Prime Minister. He led the political opposition in the period prior to and following the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin - a time characterized by volatile public debate on basic issues, sparked by controversy over ramifications of the Oslo agreements and escalating Palestinian terrorism.

In 1996, in the first direct elections of an Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu defeated the incumbent Labor candidate Shimon Peres, and became the ninth Prime Minister of the State of Israel, serving until 1999.

In his first year of office, Netanyahu concentrated on two burning issues - healing the economy and taking a more resolute stand in the face of Palestinian failures to comply with the terms of agreements signed between them and Israel. Measures were introduced to restrain inflationary trends, along with concrete steps to reduce the chronic budget deficit. Based on a new policy designed to restructure the economy, first steps were taken - not without opposition - towards privatization of government-controlled companies and utilities.

Netanyahu's policy vis-a-vis the peace process was different from that of his predecessors. He honored the terms of the Hebron agreement - for the most part hammered out by the previous administration - but has adopted a far less conciliatory attitude towards the Palestinians, refusing to overlook their failure to live up to their commitments to abolish the Palestinian Covenant and combat terrorism. In keeping with a long-standing belief that one must not acquiesce to terrorism - even indirectly - Benjamin Netanyahu redefined Israel's peace equation upon becoming Prime Minister: He rejected the terminology categorizing Israelis murdered by Palestinian terrorists as "victims of peace" and steadfastly refused to ignore the Palestinian Authority's culpability. Demanding reciprocity, Netanyahu stipulated that Palestinian gains, such as redeployment of Israeli forces and expansion of autonomy, must be linked to genuine Palestinian efforts towards peace.

Benjamin Netanyahu served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from November 2002 until February 2003, when he was appointed Minister of Finance.

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SHIMON PERES (1923-)

(1984-1986)

Shimon Peres - public servant, parliamentarian and the eighth Prime Minister of the State of Israel - was born in Byelorussia in 1923 and immigrated to Palestine with his family at the age of eleven. He grew up in Tel Aviv and attended the agricultural high school at Ben Shemen. Peres spent several years in Kibbutz Geva and Kibbutz Alumot, of which he was one of the founders, and in 1943 was elected Secretary of the Labor-Zionist youth movement.

Shimon Peres has been closely associated with the development of defense capabilities. In the late forties he joined the Haganah and was assigned responsibility for manpower and arms. During and after the War of Independence , he served as head of the naval services, and later headed the defense ministry's delegation to the US. In 1952 he joined the Ministry of Defense and a year later - at the age of 29 - was appointed Director-General, a position he held until 1959.

In 1959 Peres was elected a Member of Knesset and has been a member ever since. From 1959 to 1965 he served as Deputy Minister of Defense. Among his achievements were the establishment of the military and aviation industries and the promotion of strategic ties with France - a "special relationship" that culminated in strategic cooperation during the 1956 Sinai Campaign, which he masterminded. He was also responsible for Israel's nuclear program.

Shimon Peres distinguished himself as a political figure in internal politics as well. In 1965 he left the ruling Mapai party together with Ben-Gurion and became Secretary-General of Rafi; three years later, he was instrumental in reuniting these labor factions. In 1969 Peres was appointed Minister of Immigrants Absorption; from 1970 to 1974 he served as Minister of Transportation and Communications; and during 1974 he was Minister of Information. For three years following the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Peres again played a central role in Israel's security as Minister of Defense. He revitalized and strengthened the IDF and played an important role in the disengagement negotiations that led to the 1975 Interim Agreement with Egypt. He was behind the 1976 Entebbe rescue operation and authored the "Good Fence" concept, promoting positive relations with residents of southern Lebanon.

Peres briefly served as Acting Prime Minister following the resignation of Prime Minister Rabin in 1977. Following the defeat of the Labor party in the 1977 general elections - after thirty years of political hegemony - Shimon Peres was elected party chairman, a post he held until 1992. During this period he was also elected Vice President of the Socialist International.

Shimon Peres served two non-consecutive terms as Prime Minister. His first tenure was from 1984 to 1986 in the National Unity government, based on a rotation arrangement with Likud leader Yitzhak Shamir. From 1986 to 1988, he served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, and from November 1988 until the dissolution of the National Unity Government in 1990 - as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. He focused his energies on the failing economy and on the complex situation resulting from the 1982 war in Lebanon. He succeeded in enlisting the support of the Histadrut for the difficult steps needed to reduce the annual inflation rate from 400% to 16%. Peres was also instrumental in the withdrawal of troops from Lebanon and the establishment of a narrow security zone in southern Lebanon.

After the return to power of the Labor party as a result of the 1992 elections, Shimon Peres was once again appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. He initiated and conducted the negotiations that led to the signing of the Declaration of Principles with the PLO in September 1993 - which won him the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize, together with Rabin and Arafat. Further negotiations with the Palestinians brought about Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and some areas of Judea and Samaria and the establishment of limited Palestinian autonomy, as decided in the Interim Agreement . In October 1994, the Treaty of Peace with Jordan was signed. Peres subsequently strove to promote relations with additional Arab countries in North Africa and the Persian Gulf - part of his vision of a "New Middle East."

Shimon Peres' second term as Prime Minister came in the wake of the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin on November 4, 1995. The Labor Party chose Peres as Rabin's successor, and the Knesset confirmed the decision with a vote of confidence, supported by both coalition and opposition members.

Peres served as Prime Minister for seven months, until the general elections held in May 1996. During this trying period, Peres strove to maintain the momentum in the peace process, despite a wave of terrorist attacks by Palestinian suicide bombers against Israeli civilians.

Shimon Peres continued to serve as chairman of the Labor Party for a year after the party's election defeat. In June 1997, former Chief-of-Staff and Labor Member of Knesset Ehud Barak was elected chairman of the Labor Party.

In October 1997 Shimon Peres created the the Peres Center for Peace with the aim of advancing Arab-Israeli joint ventures.

Peres served as Minister of Regional Cooperation from July 1999 until March 2001, and in March 2001 was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister in the National Unity government headed by Ariel Sharon, serving until October 2002 when he resigned together with the other Labor ministers. Peres served as Vice Premier to Ariel Sharon from January-November 2005, when Labor resigned from the government.

YITZHAK SHAMIR (1915- )

1^st term – 1983-1984

2^nd term – 1986-1992

Yitzhak Shamir - underground leader, spymaster, parliamentarian and the seventh Prime Minister of the State of Israel - was born Yizhak Yzernitzky in Ruzinoy, Poland in 1915. He attended Bialystok Hebrew secondary school and at age 14 joined the Betar youth movement. In 1935 he left Warsaw, where he was studying law, moved to Palestine and enrolled at the Hebrew University.

In 1937, opposing the mainstream Zionist policy of restraint vis-à-vis the British Mandatory administration, Shamir joined the Irgun Tzeva'i Le'umi (Etzel) - the Revisionist underground organization - and in 1940 became a member of the small, but more militant, faction led by Avraham Stern, the Lehi (Lohamei Herut Israel - Fighters for the Freedom of Israel), that broke away from the larger body. There, as part of the leadership troika, he coordinated organizational and operational activities.

Twice arrested by the British - during and after World War II - Shamir escaped both times, the second time in 1947 from the British prison camp in Eritrea to neighboring French Djibouti. Granted political asylum in France, he returned to Palestine in 1948 and resumed command of the Lehi until it was disbanded following the establishment of the State of Israel.

After several years during which he managed commercial enterprises, Shamir joined Israel's security services in the mid-1950s and held senior positions in the Mossad. He returned to private commercial activity in the mid-1960s and became involved in the struggle to free Soviet Jewry. In 1970 he joined Menachem Begin's opposition Herut party and became a member of its Executive. In 1973 he was elected a Member of Knesset for the Likud party - a position he held for the next 23 years. During his first decade as a parliamentarian, Shamir was a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and, in 1977, became Speaker of the Knesset. In this capacity he presided over the historic appearance of Egyptian President Sadat in the Knesset and the debate over ratifying the Camp David Accords two years later. He abstained in the vote on the Accords, primarily because of the requirement to dismantle settlements. Yitzhak Shamir served as Minister of Foreign Affairs between 1980 and 1983. Among his achievements were closer ties with Washington - reflected in the Memorandum of Understanding on strategic cooperation with the United States and the agreement in principle on free trade between the two nations. Shamir also initiated diplomatic contacts with many African countries which had severed diplomatic ties during the 1973 oil crisis. After the 1982 "Operation Peace for Galilee," Yitzhak Shamir directed negotiations with Lebanon which led to the 1983 peace agreement (which was, however, never ratified by the Lebanese government).

Following the resignation of Menachem Begin in October 1983, Yitzhak Shamir became Prime Minister until the general elections in the fall of 1984. During this year, Shamir concentrated on economic matters - the economy was suffering from hyper-inflation - while also nurturing closer strategic ties with the United States.

Indecisive results in the 1984 general elections led to the formation of a National Unity Government based on a rotation agreement between Shamir and Labor leader Shimon Peres. Shamir served as Vice-Premier and Minister of Foreign Affairs for two years, while Shimon Peres was Prime Minister. Subsequently, Shamir served for six years as Prime Minister - from 1986 to 1992 - first heading a National Unity Government, and then as head of a narrow coalition government.

Yitzhak Shamir's second term as Prime Minister was marked by two major events: the 1991 Gulf War, in which Shamir - despite Iraqi missile attacks on Israel's civilian population - chose a policy of restraint; and the October 1991 Middle East Peace Conference in Madrid that inaugurated direct talks between Israel and the neighboring Arab states as well as multilateral regional talks. Two momentous events overshadowed other issues on the public agenda. The first, beginning in 1989, was the victory in the long struggle for Jewish emigration from the USSR, which brought 450,000 immigrants to Israel in the next two years; the second was "Operation Solomon," in May 1991, in which 15,000 Ethiopian Jews were rescued and brought to Israel in a massive airlift.

After his party lost the 1992 elections, Shamir stepped down from the party leadership and in 1996 also retired from the Knesset.

MENACHIM BEGIN (1913-1992)

(1977-1983)

Menachem Begin - underground commander, parliamentarian and the sixth Prime Minister of the State of Israel - was born in Brest-Litovsk, Poland in 1913. A passionate Zionist from an early age, he joined the Betar youth movement at the age of 16.

In the mid-thirties Begin received a law degree. In 1938 he became head of Betar Poland, a 70,000-member organization that formed part of the national movement founded by Jabotinsky. Begin concentrated on military training, foreseeing the need to defend Polish Jewry. At the outbreak of World War II he fled to Vilna, was arrested in 1940 by the NKVD (a forerunner of the KGB) and was sentenced to eight years in a labor camp in Siberia. He was freed in 1941 because of his Polish citizenship and joined the Free Polish Army, which in 1943 made its way to the Middle East.

Contacting the dormant underground organization of the national movement - the Irgun Tzeva'i Le'umi (Etzel) - Begin set about revitalizing it. In 1944, when the magnitude of the Holocaust became evident, the Etzel broke away from the mainstream Zionist policy of restraint. Under Begin's leadership the pace and the scope of Etzel's challenges to British rule increased, and after the war he ordered many of Etzel's operations, including the Akko prison breakout and the destruction of the British administration's central offices located at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem. The growing militancy of Etzel's operations brought Begin into conflict with the mainstream Zionist strategy of Ben-Gurion - causing an ideological-political rift and personal rancor between the two leaders which lasted for many years. After the establishment of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) by the Provisional Government in June 1948, the two dissident military organizations (the Etzel and the Lehi) were disbanded and their members absorbed into the IDF.

Menachem Begin turned to parliamentary politics, founding the Herut Party, which was based on the political ideology of his mentor, Ze'ev Jabotinsky. As a Member of Knesset, he dominated the political opposition to the ruling Labor party's hegemony during the first three decades of independent Israel.

During his years as leader of the right-wing opposition, Begin, a gifted and charismatic orator, gave expression to his disapproval of government policy not only in parliament, but also at public demonstrations. In the 1950s he led the movement against the reparations agreement with West Germany, and after the Sinai campaign of 1956 - the opposition against withdrawal from Sinai. In 1965, Begin merged his Herut party with a liberal party, a merger which served as the foundation of the future Likud party.

Two years later the crisis prior to the outbreak of the 1967 Six-Day War led to the formation of a national unity government, of which Begin became a member. For almost three years he was part of the decision-making body, until disagreement over an American peace initiative (the Rogers Plan) prompted him to resign.

In the 1977 elections, Begin's Likud party gained 43 Knesset seats, compared to the Labor Alignment's 32. Menachem Begin became Prime Minister, serving for six and a half years - from the spring of 1977 to the fall of 1983.

His leadership style - with more formal attire, and emphasis on ceremonial aspects of the government - was markedly different from the "open-shirt" approach of his predecessors. In domestic affairs, Begin redirected priorities, channeling more national resources into development programs such as Project Renewal, which was responsible for the rehabilitation of distressed neighborhoods and development towns. After thirty years of Labor party rule, his party also sought, albeit with little success, to ease centralization and to liberalize the economy. He also intensified the national campaign for the right of Soviet Jews' repatriation in Israel and he gave the orders for the evacuation of the Ethiopian Jewish community, which only took place some years later.

Prime Minister Begin's most outstanding achievement was the signing of the Peace Treaty with Egypt. In November 1977, six months after Begin became Prime Minister, President Anwar Sadat of Egypt came to Jerusalem. This visit inaugurated two years of negotiations that culminated in the Camp David Accords , which called for Israel's withdrawal from Sinai and the establishment of Palestinian autonomy, in exchange for peace and normal relations with Egypt. A Treaty of Peace terminating the state of war between the two countries was signed in 1979. Prime Minister Begin and President Sadat were awarded the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize for this achievement. In the spring of 1982, despite widespread protest in Israel, Begin - who put much store in legal documents - withdrew from Sinai, including the town of Yamit and the other Jewish settlements.

In 1981 Begin ordered the Israel Air Force to destroy the nuclear reactor in Osirak near Baghdad, Iraq, shortly before it was to become operative. The wisdom of this decision and its successful execution, which were condemned by the international community at the time, became fully apparent a decade later - in the 1991 Gulf War.

Twice during Begin's tenure as Prime Minister, military actions were launched in response to Palestinian terrorist acts against Israeli citizens from Lebanese territory: the 1978 "Operation Litani" and the 1982 "Operation Peace for Galilee". Both operations were aimed at dislodging the PLO from southern Lebanon. The 1982 Operation grew into a protracted conflict with complex ramifications and a considerable number of casualties.

The strains of office, failing health and the death of his wife caused Menachem Begin to resign from his post in September 1983 and to retire to the seclusion of his home. He died in March 1992, at the age of 79.

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YITZHAK RABIN (1922-1995)

1^st term- 1974-1977

2^nd term- 1992-1995

Yitzhak Rabin - IDF Chief of Staff, diplomat and the fifth Prime Minister of the State of Israel - was born in Jerusalem in 1922, the son of an ardently labor-Zionist family.

Rabin completed his schooling at the Kadoorie Agricultural High School with distinction and then joined the Palmach - the elite strike force of the Haganah underground defense organization.

He distinguished himself as a military leader early on, during his seven years of service in the Palmach. After the disbandment of this force with the establishment of the State of Israel, Rabin embarked on a military career in the IDF which spanned two decades.

Rising to the rank of Major-General at the age of 32, Rabin established the IDF training doctrine and the leadership style which became known by the command "follow me." In 1962 he was appointed Chief of the General Staff and promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General. He developed the IDF fighting doctrine - based on movement and surprise - which was employed during the 1967 Six-Day War, when the achievement of air supremacy and massive deployment of armor led to the famous military victory. In January 1968, after 26 years in uniform, Rabin retired from the IDF.

He was appointed Ambassador to the United States in 1968. During his five years in Washington, he strove to consolidate bilateral ties and played a major role in promoting "strategic cooperation" with the United States, which led to massive American military aid to Israel. Rabin returned to Israel in 1973, before the Yom Kippur War. He became an active member of the Labor party; was elected a Member of Knesset in the general elections of December 1973; and was appointed Minister of Labor in the government formed by Golda Meir in March 1974. This government resigned shortly thereafter, and on June 2, 1974, the Knesset voted confidence in the new government formed by Yitzhak Rabin.

Yitzhak Rabin, the first native-born Prime Minister, displayed a leadership style which was candid, direct and at times unadorned to the point of bluntness. He not only had to face the need to rehabilitate the IDF, solve social problems and improve the country's economy, but also to rebuild public confidence in both the military and the civilian leadership. This task was complicated by domestic scandals, growing industrial unrest and personal rivalry within the government. In 1975, Rabin concluded the Interim Agreement with Egypt, which led to Israeli withdrawal from the Suez Canal in return for free passage of Israeli shipping through the canal. As a result of this agreement, the first Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Government of Israel and the United States, ensuring American support for Israeli interests in the international arena and renewed American aid.

In July 1976, the government headed by Yitzhak Rabin ordered the "Entebbe Operation" for the rescue of Air France passengers hijacked by terrorists to Uganda. In this daring operation, thousands of miles from home, the hostages were released and flown to safety in Israel. The commander of the operation, Lt.-Col. Yonatan Netanyahu, was killed in the fighting at Entebbe airport.

A no-confidence vote toppled Rabin's government, sparking new elections. He was nominated to lead Labor in the elections, but disclosure of his wife's bank account in the USA - an infringement on foreign currency regulations - prompted Rabin to resign from the party leadership prior to the 1977 elections, which swept opposition leader Menachem Begin into office.

During the next two decades, Rabin served as a member of Knesset. For six years (1984-1990), he was Minister of Defense in two national unity governments, engineering security arrangements on the Israeli-Lebanese border that allowed Israeli troops to withdraw to a narrow security zone. Rabin also guided the country's initial response to the intifada. From March 1990 until June 1992, Rabin served again as an opposition Member of Knesset.

In February 1992 the Labor Party held its first primaries: Rabin was selected Chairman of the Labor Party and, after the election victory in June 1992, began his second tenure as Prime Minister and Minister of Defense.

Rabin's second term as Prime Minister was marked by two historic events - the Oslo Agreements with the Palestinians and the Treaty of Peace with Jordan . Working closely with Shimon Peres, the Foreign Minister and his longtime rival, he masterminded negotiations on the Declaration of Principles signed with the PLO at the White House in September 1993. This won Rabin, Peres and Arafat the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize and opened negotiations with the Palestinians on autonomy in Gaza and some areas of Judea and Samaria and on the establishment of a Palestinian Authority. Then, in October 1994, a Treaty of Peace was signed with the Kingdom of Jordan. This encouraged the development of ties with additional Arab countries in North Africa and the Persian Gulf.

On November 4, 1995, on leaving a mass rally for peace held under the slogan "Yes to Peace, No to Violence," Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a Jewish right-wing extremist. Age 73 at his death, he was laid to rest before a shocked and grieving nation, in a state funeral on Mt. Herzl in Jerusalem, attended by leaders from around the world.

GOLDA MEIR (1898-1978)

1969-1974

Golda Meir - labor Zionist leader, diplomat and Israel's fourth Prime Minister - was born Golda Mabovitch in Kiev (Ukraine) in 1898. When she was eight years old, her family immigrated to the United States. Raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, she joined a Zionist youth movement, married Morris Myerson, and, in 1921, immigrated to Palestine, joining Kibbutz Merhavia.

In 1924 the Meyersons moved to Jerusalem, and Golda began a series of positions as an official of the Histadrut - General Federation of Labor, and became a member of its "inner circle." Over the next three decades, Golda Meir was active in the Histadrut, first in trade union and welfare programs, then in Zionist labor organization and fund-raising abroad, and later still in political roles. She was appointed chief of the Histadrut's political section - designed to use the Histadrut's growing power to advance Zionist aims such as unrestricted Jewish immigration. When, in 1946, most of the Jewish community's senior leaders were interned by the British authorities, Golda Meir replaced Moshe Sharett as acting head of the political department of the Jewish Agency until the establishment of the state in 1948. From then on she played a part both in internal labor Zionist politics and in diplomatic efforts - including her ultimately unsuccessful secret meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah on the eve of the Arab invasion of Israel in 1948, in an attempt to reach agreement and avoid war.

In June 1948 Golda Meir was appointed Israel's first ambassador to the Soviet Union, a position she filled for less than a year. She was elected as a Member of Knesset in the 1949 elections, and served as Minister of Labor and National Insurance from 1949 to 1956 - years of social unrest and a high rate of unemployment, caused by mass immigration. She enacted enlightened social welfare policies, provided subsidized housing for immigrants and orchestrated their integration into the workforce.

During the following decade (1956-66), Golda Meir served as Minister of Foreign Affairs. She initiated Israel's policy of cooperation with the newly independent nations of Africa, introducing a cooperation program based on Israel's development experience, which continues to this day. At the same time, she endeavored to cement relations with the United States and established extensive bilateral ties with Latin American countries. Between 1966 and 1968 she served as Secretary-General first of Mapai and then of the newly formed "Alignment" (made up of three Labor factions).

Upon the death of Prime Minister Levi Eshkol in 1969, Golda Meir - the "consensus candidate" - was chosen to succeed him. In the October 1969 elections, she led her party to victory.

Shortly after she took office, the War of Attrition - sporadic military actions along the Suez Canal which escalated into full-scale war - ended in a cease-fire agreement with Egypt. Though the cease-fire was broken time and again by the advancement of Egyptian missiles on the Suez Canal front, it did bring a three-year period of tranquillity, shattered only in October 1973 by the Yom Kippur War.

As Prime Minister, Golda Meir concentrated much of her energies on the diplomatic front - artfully mixing personal diplomacy with skillful use of the mass media. Armed with an iron will, a warm personality and grandmotherly image, simple but highly-effective rhetoric and a "shopping list," Golda Meir successfully solicited financial and military aid in unprecedented measure.

Golda Meir showed strong leadership during the surprise attack of the Yom Kippur War, securing an American airlift of arms while standing firm on the terms of disengagement-of-forces negotiations and rapid return of POWs. Although the Agranat Commission of Inquiry had exonerated her from direct responsibility for Israel's unpreparedness for the war, and she had led her party to victory in the December 1973 elections, Golda Meir bowed to what she felt was the "will of the people" and resigned in mid-1974. She withdrew from public life and began to write her memoirs, but was present in the Knesset to greet Egyptian President Anwar Sadat on his historic visit to Jerusalem in November 1977.

Golda Meir died in December 1978, at the age of 80.

LEVI ESHKOL (1895-1969)

1963-1969

Levi Eshkol - labor Zionist leader and the third Prime Minister of the State of Israel - was born Levi Shkolnik in the Ukraine in 1895. He had a traditional Jewish upbringing and enrolled in a Hebrew high school in Vilna at the age of 16. The 18-year-old Eshkol immigrated to the Land of Israel, then part of the Ottoman Empire.

He volunteered for the Jewish Legion of the British Army during World War I and then joined the group which founded Kibbutz Degania Bet, combining manual labor with political activism. He was among the founders of the Histadrut - General Federation of Labor, where he became involved in labor issues and later in the promotion of cooperative agricultural development.

In 1937 Levi Eshkol played a central role in the establishment of the Mekorot Water Company and in this role was instrumental in convincing the German government to allow Jews emigrating to Palestine to take with them some of their assets - mostly in the form of German-made equipment. He served as Mekorot's managing director until 1951, introducing a system of countrywide water management which made intensive irrigated farming possible. His endeavor culminated in the ambitious National Water Carrier project, which became operative in 1964, during Eshkol's tenure as Prime Minister.

A member of the Haganah high command, he engaged in arms acquisition prior to and during the War of Independence and in 1950-51 served as Director-General of the Ministry of Defense, where he laid the foundations for Israel's defense industries.

In 1951 Eshkol was appointed Minister of Agriculture and Development, and from 1952 to 1963 - a decade characterized by unprecedented economic growth despite the burden of financing immigrant absorption and the 1956 Sinai Campaign - he served as Minister of Finance. Between 1949 and 1963, Eshkol also served as head of the settlement division of the Jewish Agency. In the first four years of statehood, he was also treasurer of the Jewish Agency, largely responsible for obtaining the funds for the country's development, absorption of the massive waves of immigrants and equipment for the army.

When Ben-Gurion retired from politics in 1963, Levi Eshkol - with experience as a Haganah member and a cabinet minister - succeeded him as both Prime Minister and Minister of Defense.

In 1964, Eshkol made the first state visit of an Israeli Prime Minister to Washington, laying the foundation for the close rapport that has existed between the two countries ever since, and in 1966 he visited six African nations. But his most significant diplomatic achievement was the establishment of diplomatic relations with West Germany, a process which had been initiated by Ben-Gurion. He also secured military assistance from Germany, underscoring Germany's moral commitment to supporting Israel.

A master of internal politics, Eshkol succeeded in forming the "Alignment" (a merger of rival Labor factions) and leading his party to victory in the 1965 elections. In 1964, in a conciliatory gesture, he also ordered that the remains of Labor's fiercest political rival - Ze'ev Jabotinsky, founder and ideological leader of the Revisionist movement - be brought to Israel and re-interred in a state funeral on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. Thus, Eshkol honored Jabotinsky's last will, written in 1935, requesting that his remains be transferred to Israel "only on the instruction of a future Jewish government."

The 1967 Six-Day War, with its stunning military victory, was undoubtedly the highlight of Eshkol's six years as Prime Minister. In the tension-filled days prior to the outbreak of war, Eshkol appointed retired General Moshe Dayan as Minister of Defense. He then formed Israel's first national unity government, which included opposition leader Menachem Begin. After the war, Eshkol's diplomatic efforts succeeded in obtaining sophisticated American weaponry, including advanced aircraft, for the IDF, a change from the situation in the 1950s when almost all the IDF's weaponry was bought in Europe. After the Six-Day War, he initiated talks with Palestinian leaders in the administered areas, in an effort to promote a neighborly relationship, and ultimately, peace.

Levi Eshkol died in office in February 1969 of a heart attack, at the age of 73.

MOSHE SHARETT (1894-1965)

1954-1955

Moshe Sharett - Zionist leader, first Foreign Minister and second Prime Minister of the State of Israel - was born Moshe Shertok in Kherson (Ukraine) in 1894, and arrived with his family in the Land of Israel, then part of the Ottoman Empire, at the age of 12.

His family was among the founders of what became the city of Tel Aviv, and Sharett was a member of the first graduating class of the first Hebrew high school in the country - the Herzliya Gymnasium. Part of the "younger generation" of the nation's founding fathers, Sharett spoke fluent Arabic and Turkish, opted for Ottoman citizenship and, during World War I, served in the Ottoman army as an interpreter.

Sharett studied law in Istanbul prior to the war, and then studied at the London School of Economics from 1922 to 1924. In 1920 he joined the socialist Ahdut Ha'avoda, which later became Mapai, the leading party in the yishuv. In 1925 he was appointed deputy editor of Davar, the daily paper of the Histadrut-General Federation of Labor, and editor of Davar's English weekly. In 1931 he joined the political section of the Jewish Agency - the "almost-government" of the Jews in Palestine. From 1933 until the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Sharett served as head of the political section of the Jewish Agency, a role second only to that of Ben-Gurion, who held the position of chairman of the Jewish Agency. He was the chief negotiator and spokesman of the yishuv vis-à-vis the British Mandatory administration and an important architect of Zionist policy.

Sharett was a major figure in the formulation of mainstream Zionist strategy. He supported the mobilization of Jewish youth into units of the British Army during World War II and was instrumental in the establishment of the Jewish Brigade, while actively opposing the British White Paper policy, which severely restricted Jewish immigration and settlement. He supported Ben-Gurion's strategy of organized mass "illegal" immigration in defiance of British policy and played a major role in mobilizing international support for the November 1947 United Nations Partition Plan and the admission of Israel into the UN.

Moshe Sharett was one of the signatories of Israel's Declaration of Establishment. He became Israel's first Minister of Foreign Affairs (1948 - 1956), led the Israeli delegation to the cease-fire negotiations during and after the War of Independence and succeeded in establishing bilateral relations with dozens of countries as well as membership in the United Nations. He devoted much of his time as Minister of Foreign Affairs to the issue of reparations from Germany, and in 1952 signed a reparations agreement with West Germany.

In 1953, when Ben-Gurion retired to Kibbutz Sde Boker, Moshe Sharett was appointed his successor by the Mapai party; he also retained the foreign affairs portfolio. Ben-Gurion left the government, but remained politically active behind the scenes throughout Sharett's two-year term in office as Prime Minister. This took place against the backdrop of growing concern over massive arms acquisition by the Arab countries from the Soviet bloc as well as mounting international pressure on Israel to make far-reaching concessions on water rights while still showing restraint in response to attacks from across the borders. Sharett was perceived by Ben-Gurion as being too moderate in retaliation against incursions and attacks on Israeli civilians, while Sharett considered it important to maintain his policy of moderation and de-escalation of the Arab-Israel conflict. In 1955 the rift between them widened considerably, causing a fallout between the two men, who had been close associates and political allies since the 1920s. This fundamental dispute between Ben-Gurion and Sharett ultimately led to Sharett's 1956 resignation and his leaving political life.

As Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Sharett presided over the continuation of the high-paced national socioeconomic development and immigrant absorption which characterized Israel during this period. He initiated negotiations on arms purchases, which bore fruit after he had left the premiership. The "Lavon affair" - a failed intelligence operation launched by the Minister of Defense without the Prime Minister's knowledge, which was to overshadow Israeli politics for years to come - led to Ben-Gurion's return to the government as Minister of Defense. Following the 1955 elections, Sharett yielded the post of Prime Minister but remained Foreign Minister until June 1956.

Upon his retirement, he became chairman of the Beit Berl College, Director-General of the Am Oved publishing house (both Histadrut institutions) and representative of the Labor Party in the Socialist International. In 1960 Sharett was elected by the World Zionist Congress as Chairman of the World Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency.

Moshe Sharett died in 1965 at the age of 71.

DAVID BEN-GURION (1886-1973)

1^st term – 1948- 1953

2^nd term – 1955-1963

David Ben-Gurion - Zionist leader and Israel's first and longest-serving Prime Minister - was born David Green in Plonsk, Poland in 1886 and educated in a Hebrew school established by his father, an ardent Zionist. Ben-Gurion became a Zionist and joined the Socialist-Zionist group Poalei Zion at 17.

In 1906, Ben-Gurion immigrated to the Land of Israel, worked as a laborer in agricultural settlements, became immersed in Zionist politics and polemics and helped establish the Jewish self-defense group Hashomer. In 1912 he began to study law in Istanbul, but the outbreak of World War I led to his deportation, together with other leading Zionists, by the Ottoman authorities. Ben-Gurion spent the war years in the United States, where he married Paula Monbesz, a fellow Zionist, and was active in building an "American wing" of Labor Zionism. He returned to Palestine as a soldier of the Jewish Legion, a unit of the British Army created by Ze'ev Jabotinsky.

In the 1920s, Ben-Gurion was elected secretary-general of the Histadrut - General Federation of Labor, a role which he regarded as a potential power base for the realization of Zionist aims. He served as Secretary-General of the Histadrut until 1935, forging it into much more than a trade union: an all-embracing political, social and economic institution with its own network of factories, development corporations, cultural frameworks and health services and a financial institution. The Histadrut thus provided the economic infrastructure, as well as the social and political fabric, for the state-in-the-making. Ben-Gurion subsequently played a central role in the amalgamation of Ahdut Ha'avoda and Hapo'el Hatza'ir into Mapai, which became the ruling party during the first decades of statehood, with Ben-Gurion at the helm. His approach to socialism was pragmatic, seeking to attain national and socialist goals simultaneously. By 1935, Labor Zionism had become the most important faction in the Zionist movement, and Ben-Gurion was appointed to the key post of chairman of the Jewish Agency Executive - the "almost-government" of the Jews in Palestine - a post he held until 1948, when the State of Israel was established.

Throughout these years, Ben-Gurion set the course of Zionist history and molded the character of the Jewish state. Based on a political platform blending vision with pragmatism, Ben-Gurion abandoned the established Zionist policy of caution and gradualism, adopting a strong activist line. During World War II his strategy in the conflict between British restrictions on Jewish immigration and settlement and the fact that Britain was fighting Nazi Germany was succinctly summarized in his statement that Zionists "would fight the war as if there was no White Paper and fight the White Paper as if there was no war." After the war, he challenged British authority by organizing mass "illegal" immigration and set de facto boundaries for a Jewish state by establishing Jewish settlements in all parts of the country. He pushed for development of a Jewish defense capability and pressed for the purchase of heavy armaments - artillery and aircraft - when others spoke in terms of light infantry.

In 1948, as head of the provisional government, David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel and the beginning of the "ingathering of the exiles" - moves of daring and vision, "willing" events of historic magnitude to happen. In this sense, Ben-Gurion belongs to the rare breed of leaders who are "event-making men" rather than "eventful men" - as defined by philosopher and historian Sidney Hook - the former being individuals who "drive" history in the direction they chart, the latter merely "the right men at the right time." In the first five years of statehood, Ben-Gurion's forceful and charismatic leadership as Prime Minister led to waves of mass immigration which doubled the country's population. He directed absorption endeavors, investing the majority of the new nation's limited resources in integrating the immigrants; secured outlying areas by building settlements on the periphery; and instituted universal education in a non-partisan public school system. As Minister of Defense, he masterminded and carried out the tense transition from underground organizations to a regular army - molding the character as well as the structure of the IDF. Later he presided over national projects such as "Operation Magic Carpet" (the airlift of Jews from Yemen), the construction of the National Water Carrier and innovative regional development projects.

In the international arena, Ben-Gurion put his political career on the line to force approval of the highly controversial reparations agreement with West Germany. He led Israel out of the bloc of unaligned nations, adopting a pro-Western orientation. This move set the stage for a strategic alliance with France and Great Britain, which strengthened Israel in the diplomatic, economic and military spheres in the 1950s.

In 1953, drained by years of intensive public service, Ben-Gurion resigned from the government for two years. He settled in Kibbutz Sde Boker in the Negev, serving as a personal example to Israel's youth. Following the 1955 elections, he again became Prime Minister. Reassessing defense policy, he advocated a more resolute response to terrorism from across the borders and adopted a defense strategy based on close cooperation with France, which lasted for over a decade. The 1956 Sinai Campaign - although Israel eventually withdrew from Sinai under international pressure - brought a halt to sabotage and terrorist attacks on settlements in the south, and an end to the Egyptian blockade of Israeli shipping in the Red Sea.

In 1963 Ben-Gurion resigned from the government once more in protest over the moral aspects of an intelligence fiasco that took place in 1954 - bringing to an end almost three decades of leadership, including 13 years as Prime Minister of the State of Israel. Ben-Gurion made a bid to return to public life in 1965 by supporting electoral reform and the formation of a new party, Rafi, which gained only 10 seats in the Knesset elections. He remained a Member of Knesset for another five years, retiring from public life in 1970 at the age of 84. Ben-Gurion - one of the most influential figures in the course of modern Zionism - died in 1973 and was buried in Sde Boker.

SAGISAG NG ISRAEL

National Emblem – Menora

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Sunday, September 24, 2006

HOW'S MY DAY?

How's my day? It has been a long time since I've updated my blog. I am tooooooooooooo busy to do so....the intramurals sucks...it is way too boring & the invaders are not around! What the hell is happening!

Anyway, I am glad that Sis. Ched decided to change our costume in our drum corps. The color of our costume sucks, and Sis. also decided to change the style, adding new instruments and new styles! Hah! Now, WE WILL GONNA RULE!!!!

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Friday, September 15, 2006

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FREAKY

I am really freaky today! Today, the CAT told me that my project was damned & I got sick & got a failing grade in my Filipino quiz this morning. I really need to go back in my house, but because my fucking school is so terribly the fucking school ever! NO ONE IS ALLOWED TO GET OUT OF THE CAMPUS DURING LUNCHTIME which is so FUCKING TRUE! In other words, we need to bring all our books which is damned heavy & kills our backs, causing me to have frequent back pains & bring baon which adds in my suffering as a DAMNED DAMEAN! Because of this STUPID RULE of the DEMON NUNS, I need to find a way to get out in the campus & rest in my good house of mine. I kinda love sneaking & escaping...

It's a long story how the hell did I get out of the campus but at least, I am here in my house, in front of PC, nothing to worry about and just having a good time here. It's been 4 days since I last wrote in this blog of mine and I missing the sound of the keyboard of my PC. I am an INTERNET FREAK! It's my way to discover myself in the eyes of people online. As you see guys, while you are reading this blog, it is written by my dark, English speaking side. If you know me personally, you'd be surprised. If I'm with my friends, all you can see is a four eyed freak who is kinda gullible & speaks nothing but Bisaya. JOLOGS, in other words. But in this world you call Internet, you will know me as a person who has a good English, a bit of an Net genius, a net socialite. If you don't get what I mean, I cannot just explain it, FREAKS!

3:03 AM - 1 view - add eprops - add comments - email it

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

DAMNED WHATEVERS!

Yehey! Thank God that Sir Muyco allowed us to use the net in his subject! He's is currently playing WInamp today. I am using someone's PC to write this blog entry for my PC is damned again..in other words, walay net akong PC, dili maka-abot! HMPH! But at least, naka-net! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I am so damned busy kaya gamay lang ang time ko para ka net....projects, exams, quizzes...anything that has something to do with this is a torture for every high school student in the world.....OH MAN! But good thing I am still alive to this day on. Xhieez, MAY GOD HELP ME!

10:16 PM - 1 view - add eprops - add comments - email it

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