Shaul Mofaz
Shaul Mofaz | |
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Minister without Portfolio | |
Faction represented in the Knesset | |
2006–2015 | Kadima |
Other roles | |
2012 | Leader of the Opposition |
2012–2013 | Leader of the Opposition |
Personal details | |
Born | Rav Aluf (Chief of Staff ; highest rank) | 4 November 1948
Commands |
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Battles/wars |
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Shaul Mofaz (
After leaving the army, he entered politics. He was appointed
Biography
Early life
This section of a poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous. )Find sources: "Shaul Mofaz" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (February 2012) |
Shaul Mofaz was born Shahrām Mofazzazkār (Persian: شهرام مفضضکار) on 4 November 1948 in Tehran, Iran, to Persian Jewish parents from Isfahan, and lived in Tehran until his family moved to Israel. His father was the principal of the ORT school in Tehran.[1] Mofaz immigrated to Israel with his family in 1957 when he was nine years old. The family settled in Eilat, where Mofaz grew up. His father's attempt to open a small factory in Eilat failed, and he had to support the family by working as a menial laborer. His family lived in a one-and-a-half-room apartment and his parents struggled to put food on the table. At age 10 he had to work in construction to help support his family. Mofaz attended a religious elementary school in Eilat. At age 14, his father sent him to an agricultural boarding school in Nahalal in the Jezreel Valley, where studies were combined with agricultural work. Mofaz recalled the boarding school as his first real exposure to wider Israeli society and struggling to fit in and be seen as a "real Israeli", recalling that "you're in a class with children from Nahalal who are Israelis with real roots in the country, children of the valley nobility. These princes who live in the big houses on the big farms of Nahalal, and where do you come from? From nowhere, from Tehran, from Eilat, from a tiny apartment in a housing project." He became determined to become a paratrooper in the army, seeing it as a way to become fully Israeli.[2][3]
Military service
Upon graduating from high school in 1966, he was conscripted into
Mofaz was an infantry brigade commander during the
Mofaz served in a series of senior military posts and was promoted to Brigadier General in 1988. In 1993 he was made commander of the IDF forces in the
His term as Chief of Staff was noted for financial and structural reforms of the IDF. His tenure also saw continued operations in the South Lebanon security zone and the withdrawal from the security zone in 2000. But the most significant event in his tenure was the Second Intifada eruption in September 2000. The tough tactics undertaken by Mofaz drew widespread concern from the international community but were broadly supported by the Israeli public. Controversy erupted over Israeli actions during the Battle of Jenin, intermittent raids in the Gaza Strip, and the continued isolation of Yasser Arafat.
Mofaz had foreseen the wave of violence as early as 1999 and prepared the IDF for intense guerrilla warfare in the territories. He fortified posts in the Gaza Strip and kept Israeli military casualties low. While he was known for claiming, "Israel has the most moral army in the world,"[6] he drew criticism from both Israeli and international human rights monitoring groups because of the methods he had undertaken, including using armored bulldozers to demolish 2,500 Palestinian civilian homes, displacing thousands, to create a security "buffer zone" along the Rafah border.[7][8]
Political career
Following a government crisis in 2002, Shaul Mofaz was appointed
The fact that he had only recently left his position as IDF Chief of Staff prevented him from participating in the 2003 election (by which time Mofaz had joined Sharon's Likud). Nevertheless, Sharon reappointed him as Defense Minister in the new government.
On 21 November 2005, Mofaz rejected Sharon's invitation to join his new party, Kadima, and instead announced his candidacy for the leadership of Likud. But, on 11 December 2005, one day after he promised he would never leave the Likud,[10] he withdrew from both the leadership race and the Likud to join Kadima.
Following the elections in late March 2006, Mofaz was moved from the position of Defense Minister and received the
In 2008, with Israel's then prime minister, Ehud Olmert, being pressured to resign due to corruption charges, Mofaz announced that he would run for the leadership of the Kadima party.
On 5 August 2008, Mofaz officially entered the race to be the leader of Kadima. That same day he received a blessing from
Placed second on the Kadima list, Mofaz retained his seat in the 2009 elections, but lost his cabinet position after Likud formed the government.
On 27 March 2012, Shaul Mofaz won the Kadima party leadership primaries by a landslide, defeating party chairwoman
Mofaz had Kadima withdraw from the government coalition over Netanyahu's indecision over a draft reform law and warned that the prime minister was trying to patch together a majority for a vote to plunge the region into war.[17]
In 2013 Kadima, just four years before the ruling party, received 2% of the votes, barely passing to the Knesset.
In the buildup to the 2015 elections Kadima was not expected to pass the threshold, as it was raised to 3.25%. Mofaz negotiated with the Zionist Union alliance to bring Kadima onto their slate, but ended negotiations when it became clear he would not be their candidate for Defense Minister. Immediately after Mofaz announced he was not joining the Zionist Union slate, it was announced the former Military Intelligence Directorate (Israel) head Amos Yadlin was appointed to the Zionist Union slate and would be their candidate for Defense Minister. Within a week of his announcement that he was not running with the Zionist Union, Mofaz announced his retirement from politics.[18]
Personal life
Mofaz is married to Orit with four children. His son Yonatan, named for
In popular culture
A fictionalized version of Mofaz appeared in the 2008 drama film Lemon Tree.[21]
Awards and decorations
Six-Day War Ribbon
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War of Attrition Ribbon
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Yom Kippur War Ribbon
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First Lebanon War Ribbon
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| South Lebanon Security Zone
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See also
- Moshe Katsav
- List of Israel's Chiefs of the General Staff
- Iran–Israel relations
- Lemon Tree
References
- ^ "Shaul Mofaz meets ORT supporters in USA".
- ^ Bronner, Ethan (7 April 2012). "Shaul Mofaz Defies His Image With Lean to Left". The New York Times.
- ^ "Kadima Chairman Shaul Mofaz". Ynetnews. 18 August 2008.
- ^ a b "Lt. Gen. Shaul Mofaz (1998-2002)".
- ^ Gal Perl Finkel, Importance of IDF Ground Forces in new army appointments, The Jerusalem Post, 21 February 2019.
- ^ When it comes to its morality, Israel prefers not to be tried Haaretz, 8 Jan 2015,
- ^ "Demolition for alleged military purposes". B'tselem. 1 January 2011. Archived from the original on 3 December 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
- ^ "Razing Rafah: Mass Home Demolitions in the Gaza Strip". Human RIghts Watch. 18 October 2004. Archived from the original on 4 August 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
- ^ Shaul Mofaz Biography at Jewish Virtual Library
- ^ Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu (23 July 2012). "Israel's Knesset Scorecard: Who's on First". Arutz Sheva 7. Archived from the original on 25 July 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
- ^ "Shaul Mofaz". Institute for Middle East Understanding. Archived from the original on 21 February 2009. Retrieved 25 September 2008.
- ^ "Livni declared winner of Kadima election". Australia: ABC News. 18 September 2008. Archived from the original on 10 November 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
- ^ "Livni claims victory in Israel poll". 18 September 2008. Retrieved 18 September 2008.[dead link]
- ^ Ophir Bar-Zohar; Jonathan Lis; Natasha Mozgovaya (28 March 2012). "Shaul Mofaz beats Tzipi Livni in Kadima leadership primaries". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 21 June 2012. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
- ^ "Mofaz sworn in as minister, deputy PM". Ynetnews. 9 May 2012. Archived from the original on 12 May 2012. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
- ^ Verter, Yossi (30 March 2012). "After Livni, it's Mofaz's turn at the helm of Kadima". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 9 May 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
- ^ Heller, Jeffrey. "Netanyahu's ex-deputy warns against attacking Iran". Reuters. 24 July 2012. Archived from the original on 27 July 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
- ^ Israel election updates / Likud: Livni wrong on Congress' Iran sanctions Haaretz, 27 January 2015
- ^ Shaul Mofaz - Jewish Virtual Library
- ^ "Mofaz has neutralized opposition on Iran". Haaretz.
- ^ LEMON TREE: Q&A with Eran Riklis. By Andre Soares. Alternative Film Guide. Published 1 May 2009. Retrieved 25 September 2011
External links
- Shaul Mofaz on the Knesset website