Matan Vilnai
Matan Vilnai ( Hebrew מתן וילנאי; * May 20, 1944 in Jerusalem ) is an Israeli politician and former major general in the Israel Defense Forces . He has been the ambassador to China since February 2012.
Military career
Matan Vilnai initially pursued a military career as a paratrooper for the Israeli armed forces . As a major, he participated in Operation Entebbe in 1976. Before retiring from the armed forces, he held the rank of major general .
Political career
In 1999 he became a member of the Israeli labor party Avoda and was immediately elected to the Knesset . First he became Minister for Science, Culture and Sport. After six months he gave his seat in the Knesset to Colette Avital, but kept his ministerial post.
He also retained his post under the government elected in 2001, led by the conservative Likud party under Ariel Sharon . In 2003 he was re-elected to the Knesset, but lost his ministerial office under the new government that was now formed without a Labor Party . After a new government was formed in 2005 (right-wing and right-wing extremist parties left the Sharon government because of the so-called convergence plan , which promises the evacuation of occupied Palestinian territories), he was reappointed minister, this time for science and technology.
For the 2006 elections, Vilnai wanted to become Labor Party leader, but was beaten by Amir Peretz . Nevertheless, he was able to enter the Knesset again and in July 2007 was appointed Deputy Minister of Defense of the newly formed government under Ehud Barak. He was Minister of Homeland Security from 2009 until he was appointed Ambassador to China in February 2012.
Shoah expression
In connection with the massive rocket attacks by Hamas from the Gaza Strip, Vilnai said the following sentence at the end of February 2008: "If the Palestinians shoot more rockets and extend their range, they will put themselves at risk of a" Shoah "because we have everything in our power standing do to defend us, ”Vilnai told military radio . The usual Hebrew word for catastrophe is "ason", while the word " sho'ah " used by Vilnai today denotes the systematic genocide of around six million Jews in Europe during the Nazi era , but also occasionally in a reserved meaning is simply used in the (original) meaning "great catastrophe".
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Vilnai, Matan |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Israeli major general and minister |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 20, 1944 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Jerusalem |