Amihai "Ami" Ayalon is an
IsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i politician and a former member of the
KnessetThe 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...
for the Labor Party. He was previously head of the Shin Bet, Israel's secret service, and commander-in-chief of the Navy. He came in second to
Ehud BarakEhud Barak is an Israeli politician who served as Prime Minister from 1999 until 2001. He was leader of the Labor Party until January 2011 and holds the posts of Minister of Defense and Deputy Prime Minister in Binyamin Netanyahu's government....
in a
Labor party leadership electionA leadership election was held on June 12, 2007 to elect a new leader of the Israeli Labor Party, due to internal dissent within the party regarding the image of their leader, Amir Peretz-Candidates:...
in June 2007, and was appointed a
Minister without PortfolioA minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister that does not head a particular ministry...
in September 2007.
Biography
Ami Ayalon was born in
Tiberias and grew up in kibbutz
Ma'aganMa'agan is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located on the southern shore of the Sea of Galilee, it falls under the jurisdiction of Emek HaYarden Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 323....
. His parents moved to British Mandate Palestine in the 1930s. His mother came as a young girl to study in Jerusalem; his father, Yitzhak, emigrated illegally from
RomaniaRomania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, and was one of the founders of
Ma'aganMa'agan is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located on the southern shore of the Sea of Galilee, it falls under the jurisdiction of Emek HaYarden Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 323....
, where he worked until retirement as a carpenter. Ayalon graduated from
Bar-Ilan UniversityBar-Ilan University is a university in Ramat Gan of the Tel Aviv District, Israel.Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is now Israel's second-largest academic institution. It has nearly 26,800 students and 1,350 faculty members...
with a
Bachelor of ArtsA Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in 1980. In 1992 he received a
Master of Public AdministrationThe Master of Public Administration is a professional post-graduate degree in Public Administration. The MPA program prepares individuals to serve as managers in the executive arm of local, state/provincial, and federal/national government, and increasingly in nongovernmental organization and...
from
Harvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
's
John F. Kennedy School of GovernmentThe John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University is a public policy and public administration school, and one of Harvard's graduate and professional schools...
. In 2010 he received a
Master of Studies in LawA Master of Studies in Law is a master's degree offered by some law schools to students who wish to study the law but do not want to become attorneys. M.S.L. programs typically last one academic year and put students through the same regimen as a first-year J.D. student. M.S.L...
from
Bar-Ilan UniversityBar-Ilan University is a university in Ramat Gan of the Tel Aviv District, Israel.Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is now Israel's second-largest academic institution. It has nearly 26,800 students and 1,350 faculty members...
. He is married and the father of three.
Military and security service
Ayalon served his entire military service in the Israeli Navy. Ayalon enlisted in 1963 and volunteered for the
Shayetet 13Shayetet 13 is the elite naval commando unit of the Israeli Navy. The unit is considered one of the primary Special Forces units of the Israel Defense Forces . S'13 specializes in sea-to-land incursions, counter-terrorism, sabotage, maritime intelligence gathering, maritime hostage rescue, and...
navy
commandoIn English, the term commando means a specific kind of individual soldier or military unit. In contemporary usage, commando usually means elite light infantry and/or special operations forces units, specializing in amphibious landings, parachuting, rappelling and similar techniques, to conduct and...
unit. In 1969, he participated in
Operation Bulmus 6Operation Bulmus 6, also known as the Green Island Raid, was a military raid conducted by special operations units of the Israel Defense Forces against an Egyptian early warning radar and ELINT station located on a small island in the Gulf of Suez on the night of July 19, 1969.-Background:Green...
– the assault on fortified
Green Island, EgyptGreen Island or El Jzeera El Khadraa is a small artificial island in the Red Sea at the southern mouth of the Suez Canal.-History:...
(jointly with
Sayeret MatkalSayeret Matkal is a special forces unit of the Israel Defence Forces , which is subordinated to the intelligence directorate Aman. First and foremost a field intelligence-gathering unit, conducting deep reconnaissance behind enemy lines to obtain strategic intelligence, Sayeret Matkal is also...
). During the operation he threw a grenade into one of the radar positions, and provided cover for other soldiers in the force. While climbing to the roof, he was hit in the forehead by a ricochet, but continued fighting. He stormed the position from which he was fired upon and injured as a result, killing two Egyptian soldiers and neutralizing the post. After which he continued along with another soldier, and managed to take control of at least two more key positions on the island. While trying to take over the third position, he was injured in the leg by a grenade, kept on fighting, only to be hit by another grenade in the neck and arm. Even so, he continued firing, only reported his injuries when the island was in full control, and was able to evacuate himself into a boat, where he injected himself with morphine. For these actions Ayalon received the Medal of Valor, Israel's highest decoration.
In 1979, Ayalon was appointed commander of Shayetet 13, and was once again decorated – this time for carrying out a long list of operations without casualties.
Ayalon, receiving the rank of major general, served as commander of the Israeli Navy from 1992 through 1996.
Following
Yitzhak Rabin' was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77 and 1992 until his assassination in 1995....
's
assassinationThe assassination of Yitzhak Rabin took place on November 4, 1995 at 21:30, at the end of a rally in support of the Oslo Accords at the Kings of Israel Square in Tel Aviv...
in 1995, Ayalon was "parachuted" into the post of head of the Shin Bet (Israel's internal
securitySecurity is the degree of protection against danger, damage, loss, and crime. Security as a form of protection are structures and processes that provide or improve security as a condition. The Institute for Security and Open Methodologies in the OSSTMM 3 defines security as "a form of protection...
service). He retired in 2000.
Peace activity
On 25 June 2003, Ayalon launched, together with
PalestinianThe Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
professor
Sari NusseibehSari Nusseibeh , and raised in Jerusalem, is a Palestinian professor of philosophy and president of the Al-Quds University in Jerusalem...
, a
peacePeace is a state of harmony characterized by the lack of violent conflict. Commonly understood as the absence of hostility, peace also suggests the existence of healthy or newly healed interpersonal or international relationships, prosperity in matters of social or economic welfare, the...
initiative called "
The People's VoiceThe People's Voice is an Israeli-Palestinian civil initiative dedicated to advancing the process of achieving peace between Israel and the Palestinians...
". The goal of the initiative is to collect as many signatures of Israelis and Palestinians as possible for the peace plan guidelines supporting a
two-state solutionThe two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the consensus solution that is currently under discussion by the key parties to the conflict, most recently at the Annapolis Conference in November 2007...
without the
right of returnThe term right of return refers to a principle of international law, codified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, giving any person the right to return to, and re-enter, his or her country of origin...
for Palestinian refugees.
On 14 November 2003, Ami Ayalon with three other former heads of the Israeli Security Agency (ISA),
Avraham ShalomAvraham Shalom Ben-Dor was head of GSS from 1981-1986. He resigned after being accused of ordering the killing of two Palestinian prisoners and organising the subsequent cover-up.-Early career:...
,
Yaakov PeriYaakov Peri was head of the General Security Service, the Israeli domestic intelligence agency , or Shin Bet, from 1988 to 1994.-Biography:...
and
Carmi GillonCarmi Gillon is an Israeli politician, and a former Israeli ambassador to Denmark and head of Shabak, the Internal General Security Service of Israel....
gave an interview to
Yedioth AhronothYedioth Ahronoth is a daily newspaper published in Tel Aviv, Israel. Since the 1970s, it has been the most widely circulated paper in Israel. In a TGI survey comparing the last half of 2009 with the same period in 2008, Yedioth Ahronoth retained the title of most widely read newspaper in Israel...
(one of the leading tabloid newspapers in Israel) based on the paper prepared by Ami Ayalon and Sari Nusseibeh. The interview was conducted by Alex Fishman and Sima Kadmon. In that interview, the former Security Chiefs warn of an impending "catastrophe" for Israel and urge the public to rally behind a document created which sets out the principles of a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. The blunt language and statements of grave concern are particularly striking because the ISA is the non-political nerve center of Israeli intelligence, and is the agency responsible both for gathering intelligence and for preventing terrorist attacks – including by such controversial means as
targeted killingTargeted killing is the deliberate, specific targeting and killing, by a government or its agents, of a supposed terrorist or of a supposed "unlawful combatant" who is not in that government's custody...
s and other preventive measures. While the interview has been widely quoted, rough translations have only appeared on isolated list servers and websites, and the full power of the meeting – called "historic" by its participants has often been diluted.
Although Ayalon promotes traditional
left-wingIn politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
ideas, he insists he is not a part of the Israeli left and spurns the Israeli peace camp for its hostility toward the Israeli public and especially toward the settlers. Ayalon managed to outrage many left-wing activists when he said that only
Ariel SharonAriel Sharon is an Israeli statesman and retired general, who served as Israel’s 11th Prime Minister. He has been in a permanent vegetative state since suffering a stroke on 4 January 2006....
and the
LikudLikud is the major center-right political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin in an alliance with several right-wing and liberal parties. Likud's victory in the 1977 elections was a major turning point in the country's political history, marking the first time the left had...
could bring peace.
He took part in the "
Mateh HaRov" demonstration in support of the withdrawal from the
Gaza Stripthumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
and made a very critical speech against the Israeli peace camp. He said:
We, who protest here, did not succeed in sinking through to the majority of the people. The majority is silent and therefore has no influence. I will tell you why the majority is not here. They are not here because we didn't manage to settle in the hearts [Hebrew: להתנחל בלבבות, originally a phrase invented by the settlers] of this true majority, the majority that makes the difference. We didn't manage to talk and perhaps we didn't even want to. We turned the settlers of YeshaYesha is a Hebrew acronym for "Judea, Samaria Gaza" , and is one of a number of terms used to describe the areas military occupied by Israel after the Six-Day War of June 1967...
into enemies and in an overbearing manner we banished them to the outskirts. We will only succeed when the grief of the evacuees will overcome the joyous cry of the evacuators. We claimed the desire for peace solely as our own. The majority sits at home and is quiet, although it wants out of Gaza the same as we do. The majority doesn't care, and shouldn't care, which person signs the accords to end the [Israeli-Palestinian] conflict. In order to get out of Gaza, the majority of the people must not be silent.
In 2006, Ayalon lived in
Kerem MaharalKerem Maharal is a moshav in northern Israel. Located near Atlit, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof HaCarmel Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 566.The moshav was established in 1949 by immigrants from the Czech part of Czechoslovakia...
.
Political career
In 2006, Ayalon was elected to the
KnessetThe 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...
on the
Israeli Labor Party'sThe Israeli Labor Party , commonly known as HaAvoda , is a social-democratic and labour Zionist political party in Israel. The party is an observer member of both Socialist International and the Party of European Socialists. The Israeli Labor Party was established in 1968 by a merger of Mapai,...
list, but was not given a position in the cabinet when Labor entered a coalition with
KadimaKadima is a centrist and liberal political party in Israel. It was established on 24 November 2005 by moderates from Likud largely to support the issue of Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan, and was soon joined by like-minded Labor politicians...
.
At the end of May 2007, Ayalon was one of two candidates for the leadership of the Labor Party in ongoing party primaries. In January 2007, public opinion polls showed Ayalon leading the race, followed by former Prime Minister
Ehud BarakEhud Barak is an Israeli politician who served as Prime Minister from 1999 until 2001. He was leader of the Labor Party until January 2011 and holds the posts of Minister of Defense and Deputy Prime Minister in Binyamin Netanyahu's government....
and
Ophir Pines-PazOphir Pines-Paz is an Israeli former politician who served as Minister of Internal Affairs, Minister of Science, Culture & Sport and as a member of the Knesset for the Labor Party from 1996 until 2010.-Biography:...
. He retained this lead, and just four days before the poll, on 25 May, was four points ahead of his closest rival, Ehud Barak, with 35% to Barak's 31%.
In the 28 May 2007 round of voting, Ayalon and Barak were the leading vote-getters, with
Amir PeretzAmir Peretz is an Israeli politician and member of the Knesset for the Labour Party. He is a former Defense Minister of Israel and former leader of the Labour Party, having left those positions in June 2007....
trailing in third. With neither Ayalon nor Barak having received 40 percent of the vote, the two faced each other in a runoff on 12 June 2007, which Barak won, receiving 51.3% of the vote.
In September 2007, Ayalon was appointed to the
Israeli cabinetThe Cabinet of Israel is a formal body composed of government officials called ministers, chosen and led by the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister must appoint members based on the distribution of votes to political parties during legislative elections, and its composition must be approved by a...
as a Minister without Portfolio and later became a member of the security cabinet. He was also appointed chairman of the Knesset State Control Committee, is responsible for implementing the recommendations outlined in the state comptroller's report on the performance of the Home Front Command during the 2006 Lebanon War.
On 16 November 2008, Ayalon announced he would be leaving the Labor Party for the left-wing religious
MeimadMeimad is a left-wing religious Zionist political party in Israel. Founded in 1999, it is based on the ideology of the Meimad movement founded in 1988 by Rabbi Yehuda Amital. At the national level, it was in alliance with the Labour Party, and until the 2006 elections, received 10th spot on the...
party. Ultimately he did not join Meimad, and lost his seat in the
2009 electionsElections for the 18th Knesset were held in Israel on 10 February 2009. These elections became necessary due to the resignation of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as leader of the Kadima party, and the failure of his successor, Tzipi Livni, to form a coalition government...
.
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