Former Israeli minister David Levy passed away on Sunday at the age of 86.
Over the past day, Levy was hospitalized at the cardiology ICU at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital. He was taken to the hospital after undergoing several procedures to tend to cardiologic and renal issues.
Levy was born in Rabat, Morocco, and moved to Israel with his family at the age of 19. In 1969, he was elected to the Knesset for the first time as part of the Gahal list.
After the Likud came to power in 1977, he was appointed by Prime Minister Menachem Begin as Immigrant Absorption Minister and from 1979 also served as Housing Minister. Between 1979 and 1990, he served as Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Minister in all of the governments of that period. In 1990, Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir appointed him as Foreign Minister.
In 1995, he left the Likud and created the Gesher movement, but a year later reunited with the Likud and ran together with it. In 2003, he ran with the Likud and opposed the Gaza Disengagement Plan. Before the 2006 elections, after 36 years in the Knesset, Levy announced that he would leave politics.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu eulogized the former minister: "Together with all citizens of Israel, I deeply mourn the passing of David Levy, of blessed memory – a dedicated public servant for decades, a minister and deputy prime minister. David, who was born in Morocco, paved his way in life with his own two hands. In the local sphere, he contributed to the development of Beit She'an, which became a symbol for the growth of the development towns on the periphery."
He added: "In the national sphere, he put his personal stamp on political life while looking out for distressed weaker sectors. As Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister, David helped forge diplomatic ties with countries that had refrained from doing so during the Cold War. His visits to world capitals were characterized by pride at being a devoted representative of the State of Israel. I cooperated with David in Likud governments, and with his children who – like him – successfully integrated into national politics. We did not always agree on everything, but I always admired his sense of mission.
"My wife Sara and I convey our condolences to the extended Levy family in the knowledge that David's precious memory will be enshrined in the hearts of our people for years and generations.”