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עזר ויצמן Ezer Weizman
Ezer Weizman in 1978
7th President of the State of Israel
In office May 13, 1993 – July 13, 2000
Preceded by	Chaim Herzog
Succeeded by	Moshe Katsav
Born	June 15, 1924(1924-06-15) Tel Aviv, British Mandate of Palestine
Died	April 24, 2005 (aged 80) Caesarea, Israel
Nationality	Israeli
Political party	Labour Party
Spouse	Reuma Weizman
Religion	Judaism

Ezer Weizman (help·info) (Hebrew: עזר ויצמן‎ (June 15,1924 - April 24, 2005) was the seventh President of Israel, serving a seven-year term from 1993 to 2000. Before the presidency, Weizman was commander of the Israeli Air Force and Minister of Defense.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Military career 3 Political career 4 Presidency 5 Bibliography 6 Quotes 7 References 8 External links 9 Further reading

Ezer Weizman was born in Tel Aviv on June 15, 1924. His father, Yechiel, was an agronomist. He grew up in Haifa, and attended Reali High School. He married Reuma Schwartz, and they had two children, Shaul and Michal.^[1] Shaul was badly injured by a sniper's bullet at the Suez Canal during the War of Attrition. In 1991, he and his wife Rachel were killed in a car accident. Weizman's sister, Yael, died in 2006. Weizman was a nephew of Israel's first president, Chaim Weizmann. He died of respiratory failure at his home in Caesarea on April 24, 2005, at the age of 80. He is not buried on Mt. Herzl, where Israeli presidents and prime ministers are usually interred, but alongside his son and daughter-in-law in Or Akiva.

Ezer Weizman was a combat pilot. He received his training in the British Army in which he enlisted in 1942 in order to fight the Nazis. He served as a truck driver in the Western Desert campaigns in Egypt and Libya. In 1943, he joined the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and attended aviation school in Rhodesia. He served with the RAF in India in early 1944. Weizman ended his service in the RAF as a sergeant pilot.

During 1944–1946, he was a member of the Irgun, also known as Etzel underground in Mandatory Palestine. Between 1946 and 1947, he studied aeronautics in England.

Weizman, hailed as the father of the Israeli Air Force, was a pilot for the Haganah in the 1948 Israeli War of Independence. He was the commander of the Negev Air Squadron near Nir-Am. In May 1948, he learned to fly the Avia S-199 and participated in Israel's first fighter mission, a ground attack on an Egyptian column advancing toward Tel Aviv near the Arab town of Isdud (near Ashdod, south of 'Ad Halom' bridge). In a famous battle between Israeli and British RAF aircraft on January 7, 1949, he flew one of four Israeli Spitfire fighters that clashed with 14 British Spitfires and Tempests following a reconnaissance flight from Egypt that infringed on Israel's southern border. Three planes were shot down by the IAF. ^[2]

After the establishment of the State of Israel, Weizman joined the Israel Defense Forces and served as the Chief of Operations on the General Staff.

Weizman learned to fly warplanes such as Czech versions of the Messerschmitt and the Supermarine Spitfire.

In 1951 he attended the RAF Command and Staff College in England. Upon his return he became commander of the first Israeli air force unit flying Gloster Meteor jets.

He served as the commander of the Israeli Air Force between 1958 to 1966, and later served as deputy Chief of the General Staff. Major General Weizman earned high credit for his contribution as the Chief of Operations of the IDF in Israel's overwhelming victory over Arab forces during the Six-Day War of June 1967. He directed the early morning surprise air attacks against the Egyptian air bases, which resulted in giving the Israelis almost total air superiority over the Sinai battlefields.

Although he became the IDF's Deputy Chief of Staff in 1966, he retired from military service in 1969 when he understood he would not be appointed as Chief of Staff, the highest military position.

Upon retiring from the military, Weizman joined the right-wing Gahal party. He served as Minister of Transportation in Levi Eshkol's national unity government until Gahal left the coalition in 1970. Weizman quit Gahal in 1972, but returned in 1976, by which time it had become Likud. In 1977, he became Defense Minister under Menachem Begin. During his term, Israel launched the Litani Operation against the PLO in south Lebanon and developed the IAI Lavi fighter.

Over time, Weizman's views became more dovish. After the visit to Jerusalem of Egypt's president Anwar Sadat in 1977, Weizman developed a close friendship with him. These relations were a crucial factor in the talks that culminated in the 1978 Camp David accords, followed by a peace treaty with Egypt the following year.^[3]

In May 1980, Weizman quit the government. He considered establishing a new party with Moshe Dayan, which led to his ousting from Likud. For the next four years, he put politics on hold and entered the business world.

In 1984, he established a new party, Yachad, which won 3 seats in the 1984 elections. The party joined a national unity government in which Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Shamir served as prime ministers in rotation. In October, 1986, Yachad merged with the Alignment, after Mapam and Yossi Sarid left. In 1992, the Alignment became the Israeli Labour Party.

Ezer Weizman was inaugurated on May 13, 1993. During his days in office, Israel went through a trying period, as Hezbollah and Hamas carried out terrorist attacks in cities around the country. Weizman faithfully visited the families of soldiers killed in the line of duty and families whose loved ones were killed or injured in terrorist attacks. He was a frequent visitor to hospitals, to cheer up the wounded. He was famous for his informal manner, and his outspokenness on controversial topics.

For the most part, the Israeli presidency is a ceremonial job. Presidents are expected to represent the entire nation and remain politically neutral. Weizman, unlike his predecessors, often flouted these conventions. In 1996, in an attempt to promote the peace process, Weizman invited Yasser Arafat for a private visit to his home in Caesarea. In 1999, he met with the terrorist leader Nayef Hawatmeh, declaring "I am even prepared to meet with the devil if it helps [to bring peace]." ^[4]He openly supported withdrawal from the Golan Heights in exchange for peace with Syria, drawing criticism from the right wing parties.

At the end of 1999, newspapers published allegations that Weizman had accepted large sums of money from businessmen without reporting this to the proper authorities. Although a decision was reached not to prosecute him, he was forced to resign due to public pressure. Weizman's resignation took effect on July 13, 2000.

• On Eagles' Wings: The Personal Story of the Leading Commander of the Israeli Air Force (1975)
• The Battle for Peace (1981)
• Ruth, Sof (2002) (Hebrew)

Weizman's witticisms, informal manner of speech and quick tongue frequently sparked public controversy:

• "Honey, you'd be better off staying home and darning socks" (in a phone conversation with Alice Miller, a soldier who successfully petitioned the High Court to force the Israeli Air Force to open its pilots' course to women in 1994)

• "I like a man to be a man, and a woman to be a woman" (on the subject of homosexuality)

• "Now you'll be able to aim better" (visiting a wounded soldier who had lost an eye)

• "I've been married to my wife, Reuma, for 45 years, but I never thought of smacking her around or anything like that" (during a visit in 1997 to a shelter for battered women)

• "We ate a little, we drank a little" (Weizman's eulogy at the funeral of Israel's assassinated prime minister Yitzhak Rabin)

• "He was a formidable fellow and I was glad that he was Pakistani and not Egyptian" (Israel Air Force chief and ex-President Ezer Weizmen writing about Pakistani Airforce Chief chief Nur Khan during the Six Day War in his autobiography, On Eagles' Wings)

1. ^ Ezer Weizman NNDB
2. ^ http://www.spyflight.co.uk/iafvraf.htm
3. ^ EZER WEIZMAN: 1924-2005 San Francisco Chronicle, 25 April 2005
4. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1470135,00.html

• Ezer Weizman - Obituary The Times
• 101 Squadron, Israel's first fighter squadron in which Weizman was a pilot and eventual commander
• The official Israel Air Force Site

• Weizman, Ezer, On Eagles' Wings: The Personal Story of the Leading Commander of the Israeli Air Force. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1976 ISBN 0-02-625790-4
• Generals of Israel, ed. Moshe Ben Shaul, Hadar Publishing, Tel-Aviv, 1968

Military offices
Preceded by Dan Tolkovsky	Commander of the Israeli Air Force 1958–1966	Succeeded by Mordechai Hod
Political offices
Preceded by Shimon Peres	Defense Minister of Israel 1977-1980	Succeeded by Menachem Begin
Preceded by Chaim Herzog	President of Israel 1993-2000	Succeeded by Moshe Katsav

Presidents of Israel v • d • e

Chaim Weizmann • Yitzhak Ben-Zvi • Zalman Shazar • Ephraim Katzir • Yitzhak Navon • Chaim Herzog • Ezer Weizman • Moshe Katsav • Shimon Peres