- Meir Amit
-
Meir Amit 
Date of birth 17 March 1921 Place of birth Tiberias, Mandate Palestine Date of death 17 July 2009 (aged 88) Knessets 9 Party Alignment (1980-1981) Former parties Dash (1977-1978)
Shinui (1978-1980)Ministerial posts Minister of Transportation
Minister of CommunicationsMeir Amit (Hebrew: מאיר עמית, 17 March 1921 – 17 July 2009)[1] was an Israeli politician and general. He served as Director of the Mossad from 1963 to 1968 before entering politics and holding two ministerial positions.
Biography
Amit was born in Tiberias as Meir Slutsky during the Mandate era, cousin of the Russian poet, Boris Slutsky. At a young age, he joined kibbutz Alonim in the lower Galilee and enlisted in the Haganah. He fought for the Haganah during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. He remained in the military and rose through the ranks to become a major general. During his military career he came to be regarded as a protege of Moshe Dayan. In the late 1950s Amit studied at Columbia Business School in New York, earning a business degree. After returning to Israel, Amit entered the Israeli intelligence community, first as a Major General at the head of IDF Intelligence in 1961, and then as Mossad Director in 1963. He was the only figure in Israel's history to hold the position of Mossad chief and head of military intelligence at the same time.
As Director, he orchestrated some of the Mossad's greatest successes, including the spy Eli Cohen who penetrated the highest levels of the Syrian government. It was also during his time that the Mossad engineered the defection of a Maronite Iraqi pilot who flew the then new Mig-21 from Iraq to Israel. Amit is particularly known for his success in expanding Israel's human intelligence (HUMINT), especially in the Arab world. During the lead up to the Six-Day War in 1967, Amit had a network of informants that permeated the entire Egyptian military, providing key details for Israel's pre-emptive strike on Egyptian air bases and subsequent ground offensive. Amit also built close personal ties with the CIA.
Since his retirement from the Mossad, he continued to be an active voice in the intelligence community and did work for the Israeli government. Following the lead of other former generals, Amit joined the Democratic Movement for Change party, and was elected to the Knesset in the 1977 elections. He was appointed Minister of Transportation and Minister of Communications in Menachem Begin's government, but resigned both posts on 15 September 1978 after the Democratic Movement for Change broke up. Amit subsequently joined Shinui, before defecting to the Alignment in 1980. He lost his seat in the 1981 elections.
He was later the chairman of Israel's Center for Special Studies, and in 2003, was awarded the Israel Prize for lifetime achievement and special contribution to society and the State.[2][3]
Upon news of his death in July 2009, Israeli President Shimon Peres stated:[4]
"Generations of Israelis, entire generations of children owe Meir Amit a debt of gratitude for his immense contribution - a large part which remains secret - in building the strength and deterrence of Israel...He was a natural leader, whom people trusted, and at the same time he was a visionary for the state."
References
- ^ Melman, Yossi (2009-07-17). "Ex-Mossad chief Meir Amit dies at 88". Haaretz. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1100979.html. Retrieved 2009-07-17.
- ^ "Israel Prize Official Site (in Hebrew) – Recipient’s C.V.". http://cms.education.gov.il/EducationCMS/Units/PrasIsrael/Tashsag/MeirAmit/.
- ^ "Israel Prize Official Site (in Hebrew) – Judges' Rationale for Grant to Recipient". http://cms.education.gov.il/EducationCMS/Units/PrasIsrael/Tashsag/MeirAmit/NimokyHsoftim.htm.
- ^ "Meir Amit passes away aged 88". The Jerusalem Post. 2009-07-17. http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1246443840018&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull. Retrieved 2009-07-17.
- Oren, Michael B. Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. ISBN 0-19-515174-7, 145-6 p.
- Thomas Gordon. Gideon's Spies: The Secret History of the Mossad. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999. ISBN 0-312-25284-6, 58-60 p.
External links
&Meir Amit Knesset website
Heads of Southern Command 
Allon (1948–49) · Rabin (1949) · Dayan (1949–51) · Tzadok (1951–54) · Peri (1954) · Amit (1955–56) · Simhoni (1956) · Laskov (1956–58) · Herzog (1958) · Yoffe (1958–62) · Zamir (1962–64) · Gavish (1965-69) · Sharon (1969-73) · Gonen (1973) · Bar-Lev (1973) · Tal (1973-74) · Adan (1974) · Adam (1974–76) · Shapir (1976–78) · Shomron (1978–82) · Erez (1982–83) · Bar Kokhva (1983–86) · Sagi (1986) · Mordechai (1986–89) · Vilnai (1989–94) · Mofaz (1994–96) · Yanai (1996–97) · Samia (1997–2000) · Almog (2000–03) · Harel (2003–05) · Galant (2005–2010) · Russo (2010–)
Heads of Central Command Ayalon (1948–52) · Avidar (1952–53) · Ayalon (1954–56) · Tzur (1956–58) · Amit (1958–59) · Geva (1960–66) · Narkis (1966–68) · Ze'evi (1968–72) · Efrat (1973–77) · Levi (1977–81) · Or (1981–83) · Lipkin-Shahak (1983–86) · Barak (1986–87) · Mitzna (1987–89) · Mordechai (1989–91) · Yatom (1991–93) · Tamari (1993–94) · Yatom (1994) · Biran (1994–95) · Dayan (1996–98) · Ya'alon (1998–2000) · Eitan (2000–02) · Kaplinsky (2000–04) · Naveh (2005–07) · Shamni (2007–09) · Mizrahi (2009–)Heads of the Israeli Military Intelligence Directorate Be'eri (1948–49) · Herzog (1949-50) · Gibli (1950-55) · Harkabi (1955–59) · Herzog (1959–62) · Amit (1962–63) · Yariv (1964–72) · Zeira (1972–74) · Gazit (1974–78) · Saguy (1979-83) · Barak (1983-85) · Lipkin-Shahak (1986-91) · Sagi (1991–95) · Ya'alon (1995–98) · Malka (1998–2002) · Ze'evi-Farkash (2002–06) · Yadlin (2006-2010) · Kochavi (2010-)Directors of the Mossad Communications Ministers of Israel Nurock (1952) · Burg (1952–58) · Barzilai (1958–59) · Mintz (1960–61) · Sasson (1961–67) · Yeshayahu (1967–69) · Rimalt (1969–70) · Peres (1970–74) · Uzan (1974) · Rabin (1974–75) · Uzan (1975–77) · Begin (1977) · Amit (1977–78) · Moda'i (1979–80) · Aridor (1981) · Tzipori (1981–84) · Rubinstein (1984–87) · Yaacobi (1987–90) · Pinhasi (1990–92) · Shahal (1992–93) · Aloni (1993–96) · Livnat (1996–99) · Ben-Eliezer (1999–2001) · Rivlin (2001–03) · Sharon (2003) · Olmert (2003–05) · Itzik (2005) · Hirschson (2006) · Atias (2006–2009) · Kahlon (2009–)Transportation Ministers of Israel Remez (1948-50) · Yosef (1950-51) · Pinkas (1951-52) · Ben-Gurion (1952) · Serlin (1952-53) · Sapir (1953-55) · Aran (1955) · Carmel (1955-59) · Ben-Aharon (1959-62) · Bar-Yehuda (1962-65) · Carmel (1965-69) · Weizman (1969-70) · Peres (1970-74) · Yariv (1974) · Yaacobi (1974-77) · Begin (1977) · Amit (1977-78) · Landau (1979-81) · Corfu (1981-88) · Katsav (1988-92) · Kessar (1992-96) · Levy (1996-98) · Yahalom (1998-99) · Mordechai (1999-2000) · Lipkin-Shahak (2000-01) · Sneh (2001-02) · Sharon (2002) · Hanegbi (2002-03) · Lieberman (2003-04) · Sheetrit (2004-06) · Mofaz (2006-09) · Katz (2009-)Categories:- Government ministers of Israel
- 1921 births
- People from Tiberias
- Jews in Ottoman and British Palestine
- Haganah members
- Columbia Business School alumni
- Directors of the Mossad
- Israeli generals
- Members of the Knesset
- Israel Prize for lifetime achievement & special contribution to society recipients
- 2009 deaths
- Democratic Movement for Change politicians
- Shinui politicians
- Alignment (political party) politicians
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