Weizman, who was ill over the past few years, made many contributions to the State of Israel. As Sharon said last night, "Every station in his life is an important milestone in the building of this land: in the Etzel, in establishing the Israel Air Force, in turning it into the excellent spearhead of the IDF, in the tremendous victory of the Six Day War, as Defense Minister, as a central participant in the peace agreement with Egypt, and as President..."
Weizman was Israel's seventh president, serving from 1993 until 2000. His uncle, Chaim Weizman, was the first president.
During World War II, Ezer Weizman was a pilot in the British Air Force, and later helped establish Israel's Air Force, which he headed from 1958 to 1966. He later became IDF Operations Chief, and was among those who pressed the government to initiate the preemptive strike that became the Six Day War. He was strongly in favor of retaining all of Judea, Samaria and Gaza, and when he was first elected to the Knesset in 1977, he was appointed Defense Minister by Prime Minister Menachem Begin. A year later, he began to change his mind about the Greater Land of Israel ideology, and even pushed for territorial compromise in exchange for a peace agreement with Egypt.
In 1980, he controversially resigned from the government, and in 1984, founded a centrist party, Yachad, that received only three Knesset seats. Soon after, Yachad joined the Alignment (Labor), headed by Shimon Peres. It was alleged in early 2000 that Weizman accepted a $3.5-million dollar loan in return for his agreement not to join a Likud-led government at the time. Businessman David Balas told the now-defunct Koteret Rashit weekly magazine, "I bought [Weizman's party] Yachad for the Alignment [the forebear of today's Labor]. Rami Ungar [Weizman's partner] owed me $2.5 million... We were sitting in a restaurant together with Ungar [to see] how Yachad could join the Alignment in exchange for the debt... I bought Yachad for Shimon Peres, period."
Dr. Asher Cohen, of the Political Science Department of Bar Ilan University told Arutz-7 at the time, "If these allegations are true, then... this is a clear case of buying the government." Cohen recalled that the 1984 election results were a total stalemate, and that there was "no chance for the Alignment [led by Peres] to form a government, but the Likud could have formed a government - if Weizman's three-seat Yachad party would have joined."
Weizman resigned from the Knesset in 1992, and was elected President a year later. In 1998, he was elected to a second term, but his term lasted only two years after it was revealed that he had received large sums of money from a wealthy businessman without having reported them.
He was involved in several controversies during his Presidency. In October 1995, the Knesset ratified the Oslo II Agreement by a very narrow majority. Weizman told MKs at the time, "I object to this agreement, and have said as much to Rabin and Peres. This is a majority? If one MK wouldn't have received a Mitsubishi [i.e., been appointed Deputy Minister in exchange for his vote], the agreement wouldn't have passed. That's a majority?!"
Before the 1999 Prime Ministerial election, Weizman paid condolence visits to fallen soldiers together with one of the Prime Ministerial candidates. To reporters' questions about the propriety of doing so, he responded angrily, "I told you already, I see nothing wrong with doing this!"
In July 1995, Weizman warned against the Americanization of Israel: "We must watch out for MacDonalds, we must watch out for Michael Jackson, and we must watch out for the Madonnas."
Weizman turned down the right to be buried on Mt. Herzl next to previous presidents and national leaders, specifying his desire to be buried in Or Akiva near his son who was killed in a car crash. The funeral will be held tomorrow afternoon.
Weizman was Israel's seventh president, serving from 1993 until 2000. His uncle, Chaim Weizman, was the first president.
During World War II, Ezer Weizman was a pilot in the British Air Force, and later helped establish Israel's Air Force, which he headed from 1958 to 1966. He later became IDF Operations Chief, and was among those who pressed the government to initiate the preemptive strike that became the Six Day War. He was strongly in favor of retaining all of Judea, Samaria and Gaza, and when he was first elected to the Knesset in 1977, he was appointed Defense Minister by Prime Minister Menachem Begin. A year later, he began to change his mind about the Greater Land of Israel ideology, and even pushed for territorial compromise in exchange for a peace agreement with Egypt.
In 1980, he controversially resigned from the government, and in 1984, founded a centrist party, Yachad, that received only three Knesset seats. Soon after, Yachad joined the Alignment (Labor), headed by Shimon Peres. It was alleged in early 2000 that Weizman accepted a $3.5-million dollar loan in return for his agreement not to join a Likud-led government at the time. Businessman David Balas told the now-defunct Koteret Rashit weekly magazine, "I bought [Weizman's party] Yachad for the Alignment [the forebear of today's Labor]. Rami Ungar [Weizman's partner] owed me $2.5 million... We were sitting in a restaurant together with Ungar [to see] how Yachad could join the Alignment in exchange for the debt... I bought Yachad for Shimon Peres, period."
Dr. Asher Cohen, of the Political Science Department of Bar Ilan University told Arutz-7 at the time, "If these allegations are true, then... this is a clear case of buying the government." Cohen recalled that the 1984 election results were a total stalemate, and that there was "no chance for the Alignment [led by Peres] to form a government, but the Likud could have formed a government - if Weizman's three-seat Yachad party would have joined."
Weizman resigned from the Knesset in 1992, and was elected President a year later. In 1998, he was elected to a second term, but his term lasted only two years after it was revealed that he had received large sums of money from a wealthy businessman without having reported them.
He was involved in several controversies during his Presidency. In October 1995, the Knesset ratified the Oslo II Agreement by a very narrow majority. Weizman told MKs at the time, "I object to this agreement, and have said as much to Rabin and Peres. This is a majority? If one MK wouldn't have received a Mitsubishi [i.e., been appointed Deputy Minister in exchange for his vote], the agreement wouldn't have passed. That's a majority?!"
Before the 1999 Prime Ministerial election, Weizman paid condolence visits to fallen soldiers together with one of the Prime Ministerial candidates. To reporters' questions about the propriety of doing so, he responded angrily, "I told you already, I see nothing wrong with doing this!"
In July 1995, Weizman warned against the Americanization of Israel: "We must watch out for MacDonalds, we must watch out for Michael Jackson, and we must watch out for the Madonnas."
Weizman turned down the right to be buried on Mt. Herzl next to previous presidents and national leaders, specifying his desire to be buried in Or Akiva near his son who was killed in a car crash. The funeral will be held tomorrow afternoon.