Benjamin Ben-Eliezer

Benjamin Ben-Eliezer was born in 1936 in Basra

Ben-Eliezer was born in Basra, Iraq, to Saleh and Farha Elazar, and his birth name was Fuad Elazar. He immigrated to Israel in 1950 and took the name Binyamin Ben-Eliezer. He first lived on Kibbutz Merhavia.

He was drafted in 1954 and served in the Golani Brigade, then commanded Sayeret Shaked and fought in several wars. He later served in southern Lebanon and as commander of the West Bank region. He left the army in 1981 as a brigadier general.

He was briefly in the Tami Party and served as Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. He entered the Knesset in 1984 on the Yahad list, which joined the Labor camp. He served as Minister of Housing and Construction under Yitzhak Rabin from 1992.

Under Ehud Barak he was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Communications. He became Minister of Defense in 2001 under Ariel Sharon, during the Second Intifada and Operation Defensive Shield, and led the Labor Party from 2001 to 2002. He later served as Minister of National Infrastructure and Minister of Industry, Trade and Labour.

In 2014 he ran for President of Israel but withdrew after a police investigation, and he was later charged with bribery and fraud. He resigned from the Knesset in December 2014 for health reasons. He died in 2016 of kidney disease, before a verdict was given in his trial.