Efraim Sneh ( he, אפרים סנה, born 19 September 1944)
is an Israeli politician, physician, and a retired
brigadier general
Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...
in the
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...
. He was a member of the
Knesset
The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...
for the
Labor Party between 1992 and 2008 and served in several ministerial posts. He currently heads the
Yisrael Hazaka
Israel has numerous minor political parties. Under the proportional representation electoral system used to elect members of the Knesset, parties required only 1% of the vote to win a seat in the legislature until the 1992 elections, when the elec ...
party, which he established in May 2008.
Life and career
Born in
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
in 1944, Sneh is the son of
Moshe Sneh
Moshe Sneh ( he, מֹשֶׁה סְנֶה ; 6 January 1909 – 1 March 1972) was a Haganah commander and an Israeli politician. One of the founders of Mapam, he later joined the Israeli Communist Party (Maki).
Biography
Mosze Klaynboym (lat ...
, who was one of the heads of the
Haganah
Haganah ( he, הַהֲגָנָה, lit. ''The Defence'') was the main Zionist paramilitary organization of the Jewish population ("Yishuv") in Mandatory Palestine between 1920 and its disestablishment in 1948, when it became the core of the ...
. His father was elected to the
first Knesset
Constituent Assembly elections were held in newly independent Israel on 25 January 1949. Voter turnout was 86.9%. Two days after its first meeting on 14 February 1949, legislators voted to change the name of the body to the Knesset (Hebrew: כ ...
as a representative of
Mapam
Mapam ( he, מַפָּ״ם, an acronym for , ) was a left-wing political party in Israel. The party is one of the ancestors of the modern-day Meretz party.
History
Mapam was formed by a January 1948 merger of the kibbutz-based Hashomer Hatz ...
, before defecting to
Maki
Maki may refer to:
People
*Mäki, a Finnish surname (includes a list of people with the name)
*Maki (name), a Japanese given name and surname (includes a list of people with the name)
Places
*Maki, Ravar, Kerman Province, Iran
*Maki, Rigan, Ke ...
, the Israeli Communist Party.
Sneh served in the
Nahal
Nahal ( he, נח"ל) (acronym of ''Noar Halutzi Lohem'', lit. Fighting Pioneer Youth) is a program that combines military service with mostly social welfare and informal education projects such as youth movement activities, as well as training ...
infantry battalion from 1962 to 1964. He studied medicine at
Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...
and specialized in internal medicine. Once he finished his studies he returned to military service as a battalion doctor, then as a brigade doctor for the
Paratroopers Brigade
The 35th Brigade ( he, חֲטִיבַת הַצַּנְחָנִים, ''Hativat HaTzanhanim''), also known as the Paratroopers Brigade, is an infantry brigade unit of paratroopers within the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and forms a major part of ...
. In the
Yom Kippur War
The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egy ...
he commanded a medical unit of the brigade in the
Battle of The Chinese Farm
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
and battles west of the
Suez canal
The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...
. Sneh also commanded the medical unit at
Operation Entebbe
Operation Entebbe, also known as the Entebbe Raid or Operation Thunderbolt, was a counter-terrorist hostage-rescue mission carried out by commandos of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at Entebbe Airport in Uganda on 4 July 1976.
A week earl ...
, and
Yonatan Netanyahu
Yonatan "Yoni" Netanyahu ( he, יונתן נתניהו; March 13, 1946 – July 4, 1976) was an American-born Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officer who commanded the elite commando unit Sayeret Matkal during Operation Entebbe, an operation to rescu ...
died in his arms.
Afterwards, he served as commander of the elite
Unit 669
Airborne Combat Rescue And Evacuation Unit 669 ( he, יחידת החילוץ והפינוי הקרבי בהיטס 669,''Yechidat HaHilu'tz VeHaPinu'i HaKravi Behetes 669'') is the Israel Defense Forces heliborne Combat Search and Rescue extracti ...
and as commander of the security zone in south Lebanon. His last role in the
IDF
IDF or idf may refer to:
Defence forces
* Irish Defence Forces
* Israel Defense Forces
*Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006
* Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917
Organizations
* Israeli Diving Federation
* Interac ...
was as head of the civilian administration of the
West Bank
The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
.
In December 1987, with his release from the army, he joined the Labor Party. From 1988 to 1994 he served on many delegations, specifically dealing with the Palestinian leadership. In 1992 Sneh was elected to the Knesset, serving as
Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services.
Some governments have separate ministers for mental health.
Coun ...
from 1994 to 1996. In 1999 he was appointed deputy minister of defense, and in 2001 he was appointed
Minister of Transportation
A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government agen ...
.
[ Sneh ran for the interim leadership of the Labor Party in ]2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
, winning 28% of the vote.
Sneh stood out in his objection to the withdrawal from southern Lebanon, though he eventually accepted it following Prime Minister Ehud Barak
Ehud Barak ( he-a, אֵהוּד בָּרָק, Ehud_barak.ogg, link=yes, born Ehud Brog; 12 February 1942) is an Israeli general and politician who served as the tenth prime minister from 1999 to 2001. He was leader of the Labor Party until Jan ...
's decision. Generally, Sneh is considered a "hawk" in the Labor Party. He has repeatedly expressed concern over Iran's Nuclear Program
The nuclear program of Iran is an ongoing scientific effort by Iran to research nuclear technology that can be used to make nuclear weapons. Iran has several research sites, two uranium mines, a research reactor, and uranium processing facili ...
, In 2006, Iran filed a complaint to the UN Security Council
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, and ...
over his remarks that Israel must be ready to prevent Iran's nuclear program "at all costs."
In the negotiations leading to the formation of the 31st Government under Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
Ehud Olmert (; he, אֶהוּד אוֹלְמֶרְט, ; born 30 September 1945) is an Israeli politician and lawyer. He served as the 12th Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009 and before that as a cabinet minister from 1988 to 1992 and ...
, there was extensive speculation that Sneh would be appointed Deputy Minister of Defense. Although not initially appointed to a position in the government, Sneh was appointed Deputy Minister of Defense on 30 October 2006. He served under Defense Minister Amir Peretz
Amir Peretz ( he, עָמִיר פֶּרֶץ; born on 9 March 1952) is an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for the Labor Party. A Knesset member almost continuously from 1988 to 2021, he has served as Minister of Defen ...
, who also was the Labor Party leader. The replacement of Peretz by Barak as both party leader and Defense Minister in the summer of 2007 also led to a change in the deputy position; Sneh left office on 18 June 2007 and was replaced by Matan Vilnai
Matan Vilnai ( he, מַתָּן וִילְנָאִי; born 20 May 1944) is an Israeli politician and a former major general in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). A former Knesset member and government minister, he was appointed ambassador to Chin ...
.
On 25 May 2008 Sneh announced that he would be leaving the Labor Party and creating a new party, Yisrael Hazaka
Israel has numerous minor political parties. Under the proportional representation electoral system used to elect members of the Knesset, parties required only 1% of the vote to win a seat in the legislature until the 1992 elections, when the elec ...
. He left the Knesset on 28 May and was replaced by Shakhiv Shana'an.
In 2014, in an interview with ''Al-Monitor
Al-Monitor ( ar, المونيتور) is a news website launched in February 2012 by the Arab American entrepreneur Jamal Daniel and based in Washington, DC, United States. Al-Monitor provides reporting and analysis from and about the Middle East. ...
'', Sneh said the Israeli public has been "brainwashed" in recent years into believing there is no Palestinian peace partner by what he described as "well-oiled propaganda system of the Israeli regime" which he characterized as "anti-Palestinian" and "Goebbelsian".
He lives in Herzliya
Herzliya ( ; he, הֶרְצְלִיָּה ; ar, هرتسليا, Hirtsiliyā) is an affluent city in the central coast of Israel, at the northern part of the Tel Aviv District, known for its robust start-up and entrepreneurial culture. In it h ...
, and is married with two children.
References
External links
*
Official website
*
*
*
*
Leon Charney interviews Efraim Sneh and Fredy Zach on The Leon Charney Report
Head to Head: Yossi Beilin and Ephraim Sneh on the Iranian nuclear threat - Fathom Journal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sneh, Efraim
1944 births
Living people
Deputy ministers of Israel
Israeli generals
Israeli Labor Party politicians
Israeli military doctors
Members of the 13th Knesset (1992–1996)
Members of the 14th Knesset (1996–1999)
Members of the 15th Knesset (1999–2003)
Members of the 16th Knesset (2003–2006)
Members of the 17th Knesset (2006–2009)
Ministers of Health of Israel
Ministers of Transport of Israel
Operation Entebbe
People from Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv University alumni
Yisrael Hazaka politicians