Ephraim Sneh | |
|---|---|
אפרים סנה | |
 | |
| Ministerial roles | |
| 1994–1996 | Minister of Health |
| 2001–2002 | Minister of Transportation |
| Faction represented in theKnesset | |
| 1992–1999 | Labor Party |
| 1999–2001 | One Israel |
| 2001–2008 | Labor Party |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1944-09-19)19 September 1944 (age 81) |
Ephraim Sneh (Hebrew:אפרים סנה,romanized: Efraim Sneh, born 19 September 1944)[1] is an Israeli politician, physician, and a retiredbrigadier general in theIsrael Defense Forces. He was a member of theKnesset for theLabor Party between 1992 and 2008 and served in several ministerial posts. He headed theYisrael Hazaka party, which he established in May 2008 but failed to pass the electoral threshold in the2009 Israeli legislative election and has been inactive since then.
Born inTel Aviv in 1944,[2] Sneh is the son ofMoshe Sneh, who was one of the heads of theHaganah. His father was elected to thefirst Knesset as a representative ofMapam, before defecting toMaki, the Israeli Communist Party.
Sneh attendedIroni Aleph high school in Tel Aviv.[3] Sneh served in theNahal infantry battalion from 1962 to 1964. He studied medicine atTel Aviv University and specialized in internal medicine. Once he finished his studies he returned to military service as a battalion doctor, then as a brigade doctor for theParatroopers Brigade. In theYom Kippur War, he commanded a medical unit of the brigade in theBattle of The Chinese Farm and battles west of theSuez Canal. Sneh also commanded the medical unit atOperation Entebbe, andYonatan Netanyahu died in his arms.[4] Afterwards, he served as commander of the eliteUnit 669 and as commander of the security zone in south Lebanon. His last role in theIDF was as head of the civilian administration of theWest Bank.[5]
In December 1987, with his release from the army, he joined the Labor Party. From 1988 to 1994 he served on many delegations, specifically dealing with the Palestinian leadership. In 1992, Sneh was elected to the Knesset, serving asMinister of Health from 1994 to 1996. In 1999, he was appointed deputy minister of defense, and in 2001 he was appointedMinister of Transportation.[5] Sneh ran for the interim leadership of theLabor Party in2003, winning 28% of the vote.[6]
Sneh stood out in his objection to the withdrawal from southern Lebanon, though he eventually accepted it following Prime MinisterEhud Barak's decision. Generally, Sneh is considered a "hawk" in the Labor Party.[7] He has repeatedly expressed concern overIran's Nuclear Program,[8][9] In 2006, Iran filed a complaint to theUN Security Council over his remarks that Israel must be ready to prevent Iran's nuclear program "at all costs."[10]
In the negotiations leading to the formation of the 31st Government under Prime MinisterEhud Olmert, there was extensive speculation that Sneh would be appointed Deputy Minister of Defense. Although not initially appointed to a position in the government, Sneh was appointed Deputy Minister of Defense on 30 October 2006. He served under Defense MinisterAmir Peretz, who also was the Labor Party leader. The replacement of Peretz by Barak as both party leader and Defense Minister in the summer of 2007 also led to a change in the deputy position; Sneh left office on 18 June 2007 and was replaced byMatan Vilnai.[11]
On 25 May 2008, Sneh announced that he would be leaving the Labor Party and creating a new party,Yisrael Hazaka.[12] He left the Knesset on 28 May and was replaced byShakhiv Shana'an.[citation needed]
In 2014, in an interview withAl-Monitor, Sneh said the Israeli public has been "brainwashed" in recent years into believing there is no Palestinian peace partner by what he described as "well-oiled propaganda system of the Israeli regime" which he characterized as "anti-Palestinian" and "Goebbelsian".[13][14]
He lives inHerzliya, and is married with two children.[15]
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