Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, 68, the IDF's 15th Chief of Staff and a former government minister, died Wednesday after being hospitalized for cancer, which re-surfaced after a previous fight with the disease.
Lipkin-Shahak received the IDF Citation of Valor twice for courage on the field of battle.
Before his appointment as Chief of Staff in 1995, Lipkin-Shahak issued a public statement in which he disclosed that he had been ill with blood cancer, but had completely recovered from it.
After completion of his army service in 1998, he attacked then-Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and formed a new party, the Center Party, along with several other politicians. He was appointed Tourism Minister in Ehud Barak's government. He later served as Transport Minister as well.
In March of 2001, when Ariel Sharon formed a unity coalition, Lipkin-Shahak announced that he was retiring from the Knesset.
He is survived by journalist and TV personality Tali Lipkin-Shahak and five children.