Veteran Israeli politician Ben Eliezer dies at 80
JERUSALEM: Binyamin Ben Eliezer, a veteran Israeli politician who held several top government posts and often served as a bridge to the Arab world, died on Sunday. He was 80.
Israeli media reported that he died at Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital after a long illness. Ben Eliezer, known affectionately by his original Arabic first name, Fuad, was born in Basra, Iraq, in 1936 and moved to Israel in 1950.
He joined the Israeli military in 1954 and served as a commander in the Mideast wars that followed. He retired in 1984 with the rank of brigadier general and entered politics.
Ben Eliezer was a prominent member of the dovish Labor Party and served in senior ministerial positions including defence, trade and communications. He held the defence post at the height of the Palestinian uprising, in 2001 and 2002.