Former prime minister Ehud Barak reacted, Sunday evening, to the passing of former minister Binyamin (Fouad) Ben-Eliezer by saying, "We take our leave, today, from a multifacted man with rich story lines who worked in senior positions in the public sector for decades."
Barak described Ben-Eliezer as, "An immigrant youth from Iraq. An officer in the Israel Defense Forces, commander of the Sayeret Shaked special forces during the Six Day [War] and [the War of] Attrition. The central military man in our relations with South Lebanon and the Palestinians under our control for many years. A talented politician with Ezer Weizman and the Labor Party. A minister in many offices, the Labor chairman and defense minister. Fouad contributed greatly to the country's security in a variety of roles and that's how we want to remember him. There were shady aspects but that is not the day [to remember them]. All his life, Fouad was a loyal friend to his many friends who marched with him along the way."