Chaim Herzog
Encyclopedia
Chaim Herzog served as the sixth President of Israel
(1983–93), following a distinguished career in both the British Army
and the Israel Defense Forces
(IDF).
, the son of notable Rabbi
Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog
, who was Chief Rabbi
of Ireland from 1919 to 1937 (and later, of Palestine
and Israel
), and Sara (née Hillman). The family home (from 1919) was at 33 Bloomfield Avenue, Portobello
in Dublin, Ireland
. Herzog studied at Wesley College, Dublin
and was involved with the Federation of Zionist Youth during his teenage years.
He immigrated
to Palestine
in 1935, and served in the Jewish paramilitary group Haganah
during the Arab revolt
of 1936–39.
He went on to earn a degree in law at University College London
, and then qualified as a barrister
at Lincoln's Inn
.
He joined the British army during World War II, operating primarily in Germany as a tank commander in the Armoured Division. There, he was given his lifelong nickname of "Vivian" because the British could not pronounce the name, "Chaim". A Jewish soldier had volunteered that "Vivian" was the English equivalent of "Chaim." (Living History, p. 47) He was commissioned into the Intelligence Corps in 1943 and participated in the liberation of several concentration camps as well as identifying a captured German soldier as Heinrich Himmler
. He left the Army in 1947 with the rank of Major.
, serving as an officer in the battles for Latrun
. His intelligence experience during World War II was seen as a valuable asset, and he subsequently became head of the IDF Military Intelligence Branch, a position in which he served from 1948 to 1950 and again from 1959 to 1962. From 1950 to 1954, he served as defense attaché at the Israeli Embassy in the United States. He retired from the IDF in 1962 with the rank of Major-General.
After leaving the army, Herzog opened a private law practice. He returned to public life in 1967, when the Six-Day War
broke out, as a military commentator for Kol Israel radio news. Following the capture of the West Bank
, he was appointed Military Governor of East Jerusalem, and Judea and Samaria.
In 1972 he went into partnership with Michael Fox
and Yaakov Neeman
, and established the law firm of Herzog, Fox & Neeman
, one of the largest law firms in Israel.
In 1975 Herzog was appointed Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations, in which capacity he served until 1978. During his term the UN adopted the "Zionism is Racism" resolution (General Assembly Resolution 3379
), which Herzog condemned and symbolically tore up (as his father had done to one of the British white paper
s regarding the British Mandate in Palestine), saying: "For us, the Jewish people, this resolution based on hatred, falsehood and arrogance, is devoid of any moral or legal value." In recent years British historians headed by Simon Sebag-Montefiore have included it in a book on speeches that changed the world, which includes others by Luther King, Mandela, Churchill and Kennedy.
In the 1981 elections
Herzog entered politics for the first time, winning a seat in the Knesset
as a member of the Alignment
, the predecessor to the Labour Party.
, the candidate of the right and the government coalition. He assumed office on 5 May 1983 and served two five-year terms (then the maximum permitted by Israeli basic law
), retiring from political life in 1993. As president of Israel, Herzog made a number of visits abroad, being the first Israeli president to make an official visit to Germany, as well as visiting several far-east countries, Australia, and New Zealand. He was also noted for pardoning the Shin Bet agent involved in the Kav 300 affair
.
In 1985 Herzog visited Wesley College Dublin during his State Visit to Ireland, during which he opened the Irish Jewish Museum in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. While on his visit to Ireland, he also unveiled in Sneem
Culture Park, Co Kerry, a modern polished steel Israeli sculpture, in honour of his childhood friend, Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh
, the fifth President of Ireland.
Herzog was a hardened opponent of Saddam Hussein
regime in Iraq during his presidency of Israel, he referred to Iraq as a nest "of world terror". He said the world largely dismissed Israel's warnings that Baghdad was becoming a capital of world terrorism, adding that some Western countries helped Hussein develop into a military power.
Herzog died on 17 April 1997, and is buried on Mount Herzl
, Jerusalem.
Herzog controversially reduced the sentences of three imprisoned Jews, Menachem Livni, Uzi Sharbaf and Shaul Nir, members of the Jewish Underground
, who were sentenced to life imprisonment in 1985 for the 1984 murder of four Palestinians in the West Bank town of Hebron
. Herzog had reduced the sentences, first to 24 years, then to 15 years, and in 1989 he reduced the sentence to 10 years, which enabled the men to be released two years later on good behavior.
Herzog was the brother-in-law of Abba Eban
; the men's wives were sisters. He had three children, including Isaac Herzog, former (2006–2011) Minister of Social Affairs, Minister of the Diaspora, and a Knesset Member for the Labor Party.
In 2005, he was voted the 115th-greatest Israeli of all time, in a poll by the Israeli news website Ynet
to determine whom the general public considered the 200 Greatest Israelis.
President of Israel
The President of the State of Israel is the head of state of Israel. The position is largely an apolitical ceremonial figurehead role, with the real executive power lying in the hands of the Prime Minister. The current president is Shimon Peres who took office on 15 July 2007...
(1983–93), following a distinguished career in both the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
and the Israel Defense Forces
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
(IDF).
Early life
Herzog was born at Clifton Park Avenue in BelfastBelfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, the son of notable Rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog
Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog
Rabbi Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog , also known as Isaac Herzog, was the first Chief Rabbi of Ireland, his term lasting from 1921 to 1936...
, who was Chief Rabbi
Chief Rabbi
Chief Rabbi is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities...
of Ireland from 1919 to 1937 (and later, of Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
and Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
), and Sara (née Hillman). The family home (from 1919) was at 33 Bloomfield Avenue, Portobello
Portobello, Dublin
In Dublin, Portobello is an area stretching westwards from South Richmond Street as far as Upper Clanbrassil Street bordered on the north by the South Circular Road and on the south by the Grand Canal....
in Dublin, Ireland
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
. Herzog studied at Wesley College, Dublin
Wesley College, Dublin
This article is about Wesley College in Dublin, Ireland. See Wesley College for articles on other institutions named "Wesley College"....
and was involved with the Federation of Zionist Youth during his teenage years.
He immigrated
Aliyah
Aliyah is the immigration of Jews to the Land of Israel . It is a basic tenet of Zionist ideology. The opposite action, emigration from Israel, is referred to as yerida . The return to the Holy Land has been a Jewish aspiration since the Babylonian exile...
to Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
in 1935, and served in the Jewish paramilitary group Haganah
Haganah
Haganah was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces.- Origins :...
during the Arab revolt
Great Uprising
The 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine or Great Arab Revolt was a nationalist uprising by Palestinian Arabs in Mandate Palestine against British colonial rule and mass Jewish immigration.The revolt consisted of two distinct phases...
of 1936–39.
He went on to earn a degree in law at University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
, and then qualified as a barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
at Lincoln's Inn
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...
.
He joined the British army during World War II, operating primarily in Germany as a tank commander in the Armoured Division. There, he was given his lifelong nickname of "Vivian" because the British could not pronounce the name, "Chaim". A Jewish soldier had volunteered that "Vivian" was the English equivalent of "Chaim." (Living History, p. 47) He was commissioned into the Intelligence Corps in 1943 and participated in the liberation of several concentration camps as well as identifying a captured German soldier as Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
. He left the Army in 1947 with the rank of Major.
Military, legal and political career
Immediately following the war, he returned to Palestine. After the establishment of the State of Israel, he fought in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War1948 Arab-Israeli War
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...
, serving as an officer in the battles for Latrun
Latrun
Latrun is a strategic hilltop in the Ayalon Valley in Israel overlooking the road to Jerusalem. It is located 25 kilometers west of Jerusalem and 14 kilometers southeast of Ramla.-Etymology:...
. His intelligence experience during World War II was seen as a valuable asset, and he subsequently became head of the IDF Military Intelligence Branch, a position in which he served from 1948 to 1950 and again from 1959 to 1962. From 1950 to 1954, he served as defense attaché at the Israeli Embassy in the United States. He retired from the IDF in 1962 with the rank of Major-General.
After leaving the army, Herzog opened a private law practice. He returned to public life in 1967, when the Six-Day War
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
broke out, as a military commentator for Kol Israel radio news. Following the capture of the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
, he was appointed Military Governor of East Jerusalem, and Judea and Samaria.
In 1972 he went into partnership with Michael Fox
Michael Fox (Lawyer)
This article is about the founder of a law firm. For other people of the same name, see Michael Fox.Michael Fox, MBE was a British-born Israeli lawyer. He was co-founder of Herzog, Fox & Neeman, Israel's largest law firm....
and Yaakov Neeman
Yaakov Neeman
Ya'akov Ne'eman is an Israeli lawyer and the current Minister of Justice.-Biography:Ne'eman was born in Tel Aviv during the Mandate era. He studied law at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, earning a LL.B in 1964...
, and established the law firm of Herzog, Fox & Neeman
Herzog, Fox & Neeman
Herzog, Fox & Ne'eman is the largest law firm in Israel. Its offices are in Tel Aviv. The firm was founded in 1972 by three prominent lawyers: the late Chaim Herzog, later to become the sixth President of the State of Israel, Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, and member of the Israeli...
, one of the largest law firms in Israel.
In 1975 Herzog was appointed Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations, in which capacity he served until 1978. During his term the UN adopted the "Zionism is Racism" resolution (General Assembly Resolution 3379
UN General Assembly Resolution 3379
-The Israeli response:In his address to the United Nations General Assembly the same day, 10. November 1975, Israeli Ambassador Chaim Herzog stated: In his response he also said that the resolution was:...
), which Herzog condemned and symbolically tore up (as his father had done to one of the British white paper
White paper
A white paper is an authoritative report or guide that helps solve a problem. White papers are used to educate readers and help people make decisions, and are often requested and used in politics, policy, business, and technical fields. In commercial use, the term has also come to refer to...
s regarding the British Mandate in Palestine), saying: "For us, the Jewish people, this resolution based on hatred, falsehood and arrogance, is devoid of any moral or legal value." In recent years British historians headed by Simon Sebag-Montefiore have included it in a book on speeches that changed the world, which includes others by Luther King, Mandela, Churchill and Kennedy.
In the 1981 elections
Israeli legislative election, 1981
Elections for the tenth Knesset were held in Israel on 30 June 1981. Despite last minute polls suggesting a victory for Shimon Peres's Alignment, Menachem Begin's Likud won by just one seat...
Herzog entered politics for the first time, winning a seat in the Knesset
Knesset
The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...
as a member of the Alignment
Alignment (political party)
The Alignment was an alliance of the major left-wing parties in Israel between the 1960s and 1990s. It was established in 1965 as an alliance of Mapai and Ahdut HaAvoda but was dissolved three years later when the two parties and Rafi formally merged into the Israeli Labor Party...
, the predecessor to the Labour Party.
Presidency
On 22 March 1983, Herzog was elected by the Knesset to serve as the sixth President of Israel, by a vote of 61 to 57, against Menachem ElonMenachem Elon
Menachem Elon , an Israeli jurist, who served as a justice on the Israeli Supreme Court and its Deputy President ....
, the candidate of the right and the government coalition. He assumed office on 5 May 1983 and served two five-year terms (then the maximum permitted by Israeli basic law
Basic Laws of Israel
The Basic Laws of Israel are a key component of Israel's constitutional law. These laws deal with the formation and role of the principal state's institutions, and the relations between the state's authorities. Some of them also protect civil rights...
), retiring from political life in 1993. As president of Israel, Herzog made a number of visits abroad, being the first Israeli president to make an official visit to Germany, as well as visiting several far-east countries, Australia, and New Zealand. He was also noted for pardoning the Shin Bet agent involved in the Kav 300 affair
Kav 300 affair
The Bus 300 affair , also known as Kav 300 affair, was an affair in which Shin Bet members executed two Palestinian bus hijackers, immediately after the hostage crises incident ended and the two militants were captured....
.
In 1985 Herzog visited Wesley College Dublin during his State Visit to Ireland, during which he opened the Irish Jewish Museum in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. While on his visit to Ireland, he also unveiled in Sneem
Sneem
Sneem is a town situated on the Iveragh Peninsula in County Kerry in the southwest of Ireland. It lies on the estuary of the River Sneem. National route N70 runs through the town....
Culture Park, Co Kerry, a modern polished steel Israeli sculpture, in honour of his childhood friend, Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh
Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh
Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh served as the fifth President of Ireland, from 1974 to 1976. He resigned in 1976 after a clash with the government. He also had a notable legal career, including serving as Chief Justice of Ireland.- Early life :Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, one of four children, was born on 12 February...
, the fifth President of Ireland.
Herzog was a hardened opponent of Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
regime in Iraq during his presidency of Israel, he referred to Iraq as a nest "of world terror". He said the world largely dismissed Israel's warnings that Baghdad was becoming a capital of world terrorism, adding that some Western countries helped Hussein develop into a military power.
Mount Herzl
Mount Herzl , also Har HaZikaron , is the national cemetery of Israel on the west side of Jerusalem. It is named for Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern political Zionism. Herzl's tomb lies at the top of the hill. Yad Vashem, which commemorates the Holocaust, lies to the west of Mt. Herzl....
, Jerusalem.
Herzog controversially reduced the sentences of three imprisoned Jews, Menachem Livni, Uzi Sharbaf and Shaul Nir, members of the Jewish Underground
Gush Emunim Underground
The Jewish Underground was a militant organization formed by prominent members of the Israeli political movement Gush Emunim that existed from 1979 to 1984. The group's highest profile plot was to destroy the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem....
, who were sentenced to life imprisonment in 1985 for the 1984 murder of four Palestinians in the West Bank town of Hebron
Hebron
Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...
. Herzog had reduced the sentences, first to 24 years, then to 15 years, and in 1989 he reduced the sentence to 10 years, which enabled the men to be released two years later on good behavior.
Herzog was the brother-in-law of Abba Eban
Abba Eban
Abba Eban was an Israeli diplomat and politician.In his career he was Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister, Education Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, and ambassador to the United States and to the United Nations...
; the men's wives were sisters. He had three children, including Isaac Herzog, former (2006–2011) Minister of Social Affairs, Minister of the Diaspora, and a Knesset Member for the Labor Party.
In 2005, he was voted the 115th-greatest Israeli of all time, in a poll by the Israeli news website Ynet
Ynet
Ynet is the most popular Israeli news and general content website. It is owned by the same conglomerate that operates Yediot Ahronot, the country's secondleading daily newspaper...
to determine whom the general public considered the 200 Greatest Israelis.
Published works
Herzog also authored several books on the historical events in which he was involved, including:External links
- Chaim Herzog Jewish Virtual Library
- Chaim Herzog Jewish Agency for Israel
- Israel, Jewish world mourn death of Chaim Herzog, 78 Jewish News Weekly
- The First Israeli President to visit the White house The New York Times