Ephraim Sneh

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Efraim Sneh (Jim Wallace, 2002)

Efraim Sneh ( Hebrew אפרים סנה; Born September 19, 1944 in Tel Aviv ) is an Israeli politician and doctor. He was a member of the Knesset for the Avoda and served as Israel's Deputy Minister of Defense from 2006 to 2007.

Life

Sneh is the son of Moshe Sneh , one of the leaders of the Hagana . His father was elected to the first Knesset to represent the Mapam before moving to the Communist Party .

Sneh served in the Nachal Brigade from 1962 to 1964 . He studied medicine at Tel Aviv University and specialized in internal medicine. After graduating, he returned to the military as a battalion doctor, then served as a doctor in the Israeli Paratrooper Brigade . In the Yom Kippur War he commanded a medical unit of the brigade in the battles west of the Suez Canal . Sneh also commanded Operation Entebbe's medical unit , served as the commander of Elite Unit 669 and as the commander of the security zone in southern Lebanon. Most recently he was head of civil administration at the West Bank with the rank of brigadier general ( Tat-Aluf ).

After his discharge from the army in December 1987, he joined the Labor Party. In 1992, Sneh was elected to the Knesset and served as Minister of Health from 1994 to 1996. In 1999 he was appointed Deputy Minister for Defense and in 2001 Minister for Transport.

Sneh was against withdrawing from southern Lebanon , but eventually accepted Ehud Barak's decision. He has repeatedly expressed concern about Iran's nuclear program . In 2006, Iran complained to the UN Security Council about its statements that Israel must be ready to prevent Iran's nuclear program at any cost.

On October 30, 2006, Sneh became Deputy Minister for Defense of the 31st government under Prime Minister Ehud Olmert . He served under Defense Minister Amir Peretz , who was also chairman of the Avoda. The replacement of Peretz by Barak as party leader and defense minister in the summer of 2007 also led to a change in the deputy position; Sneh had to leave office on June 18, 2007 and was replaced by Matan Vilnai .

On May 25, 2008, Sneh announced his resignation from the Labor Party and the creation of a new party - Jisra'el Chazaka (Strong Israel). He left the Knesset on May 28 and was replaced by Shakhiv Shana'an.

Sneh lives in Herzlia . He is married and has two children.

Web links