Former Israeli Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, regarded as a key liaison between Israel and Arab speaking countries, died Sunday after a long illness.
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The deceased lawmaker served as head of the Israeli labor party in 2001 and 2002, and was on the shortlist of candidates in the 2014 presidential race.
In the early 2000s he was the defense minister for four years under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon during the second Palestinian intifada. Ben-Eliezer also backed the initiative to build a security fence along the border of the West Bank, which was linked to a near-total halt in terrorist infiltration in the areas where it was constructed. He paid a almost $3 million fine in a plea bargain in May, which kept him out of prison.
Netanyahu noted in his statement that Ben-Eliezer “served the State of Israel for decades as a fighter, commander, public servant and senior government minister”, Netanyahu said in a statement, adding that he “knew [Ben-Eliezer] and I esteemed his contribution and his special personality”.
The Iraqi-born Ben-Eliezer made aliyah to Israel in 1950, and entered the Knesset in 1984, going on to hold several portfolios during his time there.
He joined the Israeli military in 1954 and served as a commander in the Middle East wars that followed.
The reports said that the former Labor lawmaker, who retired from politics due to poor health in 2014, was hospitalized with an uncertain heart condition.
On a visit to Tunisia in 1994 with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Ben Eliezer became the first Israeli minister to meet PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat. The trial, which Ben-Eliezer did not attend because of his health problems, was under way when he died.
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Veteran Israeli politician Binyamin Ben Eliezer, who held senior posts in the country’s government, including defense minister and helped bridge gaps between Israel and the Arab world has died, aged 80. “May his memory be blessed”.
