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Revision as of 00:06, 29 May 2007
 | This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The latest updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. (May 2007) |
Template:MKs Ami Ayalon (Template:Lang-he, born 27 June 1945) is an Israeli politician and member of the Knesset for the Labor Party. He is a former head of the Shabak referred to in English as the Shin Bet. (The Shabak is also known in English as the Israel Security Agency (ISA), or General Security Service (GSS)) and former commander of the Israeli Navy. As of May 2007, he is a leading candidate for the Labor Party leadership.
Biography
Early years
Born in Tiberias during the Mandate era, Ayalon graduated with a BA in Economics and Political Science from Bar Ilan University in 1980. He also earned an Masters in Public Administration (MPA) at Harvard University in 1992.
Military and security service
Ayalon served his entire military service in the Israeli Navy. Ayalon enlisted in 1963 and volunteered for the Shayetet 13 navy commando unit. In 1969, Ayalon was decorated with the Medal of Valor, Israel's highest award, for his conduct in Operation Bulmus 6 - the assault on fortified Green Island, Egypt (jointly with Sayeret Matkal). 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 admiral, served as commander of the Israeli Navy from 1992 through 1996. [1]
Following Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's assassination in 1995, Ayalon was "parachuted" into the post of head of the Shin Bet (Israel's internal security service). He retired in 2000.
Peace activity
On 25 June 2003, Ayalon launched, together with Palestinian professor Sari Nusseibeh, a peace initiative called "The People's Voice". 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 solution without the right of return for Palestinian refugees.
Although Ayalon promotes traditional left-wing 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 Sharon and the Likud could bring peace.
He took part in the "Mate ha-Rov" demonstration in support of the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and made a very critical speech against the Israeli peace camp. He said:
We, who protest here, did not succeed in reaching [Hebrew: לחלחל "Lechalchel", does not translate in context] 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 Yesha 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. [2]
Political career
In 2006, Ayalon was elected to the Knesset on the Israeli Labor Party's list, but was not given a position in the cabinet when Labor entered a coalition with Kadima.
Ayalon is currently a candidate for the leadership of the Labor Party in the primaries that are scheduled for May 28 2007.
As of January 2007, public opinion polls showed Ayalon leading the race, followed by former Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Ophir Pines-Paz.[3] He retained this lead, and just four days before the poll, on 25 May, was four points ahead of his closest rival, Ehud Barak, on 35% to Barak's 31%.[4]
See also
References
- ^ Ayalon's Knesset profile
- ^ הפגנת ה-150 אלף: פרץ הלהיב, איילון מתח ביקורת Ynet, 16 May 2004 (in Hebrew)
- ^ Israel's Political Drama: Labor Looks for a New Chief World Politics Watch, 10 January 2007
- ^ "Barak, Ayalon neck and neck in Labor primaries". Retrieved 2007-05-25.