Matan Vilnai ( he, מַתָּן וִילְנָאִי; born 20 May 1944) is an Israeli politician and a former
major general
Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...
in the
Israel Defense Forces (IDF). A former
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 ...
member and government minister, he was appointed ambassador to China in 2012. Since 2017 Vilnai serves as the president of th
Israel-Asia Chamber of Commerce
Biography
Matan Vilnai was born in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
. His father was Prof.
Zev Vilnay
Zev Vilnay ( he, זאב וילנאי, 12 June 1900 – 21 January 1988) was an Israeli geographer, author and lecturer.
Biography
Zev Vilnay was born as Volf Vilensky in Kishinev, Russian Empire (now in Moldova). He immigrated to Palestine with ...
, a pioneer in the sphere of Israeli geography and Land of Israel studies, from whom he inherited a love of nature and hiking. Matan graduated from the
Hebrew Reali School
, motto_translation = ''Walk Humbly''
, address = Hertzel 16
, city = Haifa
, zipcode = 3312103
, country = Israel
, coordinates =
, other_name ...
in 1962 and was drafted into the
Israel Defense Forces, serving in the
Paratroopers Brigade and the elite reconnaissance unit
Sayeret Matkal
General Staff Reconnaissance Unit (formerly Unit 269 or Unit 262), more commonly known as Sayeret Matkal ( he, סיירת מטכ״ל) is the special reconnaissance unit (''sayeret'') of Israel's General Staff (''matkal''). It is the prime special ...
. He holds a B.A. in history from
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 ...
.
Vilnai lives in
Mevasseret Zion
Mevaseret Zion ( he, מְבַשֶּׂרֶת צִיּוֹן, literal meaning: Herald of Zion – Jerusalem) is a suburb of Jerusalem with the administrative status of a local council. Mevaseret Zion is composed of two distinct older townships, Mao ...
and is a married with three children.
Military career
Vilnai was deputy commande
of the assault force in Operation Thunderbolt, also known as the
Entebbe Raid
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 ear ...
, to free Jewish and Israeli passengers taken hostage by Palestinian and German terrorists after their Air France plane was hijacked to
Entebbe
Entebbe is a city in Central Uganda. Located on a Lake Victoria peninsula, approximately southwest of the Ugandan capital city, Kampala. Entebbe was once the seat of government for the Protectorate of Uganda prior to independence, in 1962. T ...
, Uganda. Vilnai led the assault team into the airport building, while another team secured the outside. As a major general, Vilnai was the head of the
Manpower Directorate, as well as the Deputy Chief of Staff.
Political career
In the run up to the
1999 elections Vilnai joined the
Labor Party (which was running as part of the
One Israel
One Israel ( he, ישראל אחת, ''Yisrael Ahat'') was an alliance of the Labor Party, Meimad and Gesher created to run for the 1999 Knesset elections.
Background
One Israel was formed by Labor leader Ehud Barak in the run-up to the 19 ...
alliance), and won a place on its Knesset list.
Ehud Barak appointed him
Minister of Science, Culture and Sport. Vilnai gave up his Knesset seat six months after the election (he was replaced by
Colette Avital), but remained a minister. After
Ariel Sharon beat Barak in the
2001 election for Prime Minister, Vilnai was reappointed to his post in the new government.
He re-entered the Knesset after the
2003 elections second on Labor's list, but lost his ministerial post as Sharon formed a right-wing coalition that excluded Labor. However, when several parties left the coalition in the face of the
disengagement plan, Labor was invited into the government in January 2005. Vilnai was initially appointed Minister in the Prime Minister's Office. In August 2005 he was appointed Acting Minister of Science and Technology, and the post was made permanent in November.
In the run-up to the
2006 elections
The following elections occurred in the year 2006.
* Elections in 2006
* Electoral calendar 2006
* 2006 Acehnese regional election
* 2006 American Samoan legislative election
* 2006 Bahraini parliamentary election
* 2006 Costa Rican president ...
, Vilnai competed in the election for Labor Party leader alongside
Shimon Peres and
Binyamin Ben-Eliezer
Binyamin "Fuad" Ben-Eliezer (, he, בנימין "פואד" בן אליעזר; 12 February 1936 – 28 August 2016) was an Iraqi-born Israeli politician and general. He served as a member of the Knesset between 1984 and 2014, and held several min ...
, but was beaten by
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 ...
. However, he did retain his Knesset seat in the elections, placing 11th on Labor's list.
After Barak won the
party leadership election in 2007 he appointed Vilnai as Deputy Minister of Defense.
In February 2008, whilst Israeli airstrikes in
Gaza were ongoing, during interview on
Army Radio
Army Radio ( he, גלי צה"ל lit. IDF waves) or Galei Tzahal, known in Israel by its acronym Galatz ( he, גל"צ), is a nationwide Israeli radio network operated by the Israel Defense Forces. The station broadcasts news, music, traffic repor ...
, Vilnai threatened that Gazan
Palestinians "will bring upon themselves a bigger 'shoah' because we will use all our might to defend ourselves."
A spokesman for Vilnai said he used the word in the sense of "disaster", saying "he did not mean to make any allusion to the genocide."
Vilnai won sixth place on the Labor list for the
2009 elections
The following elections occurred in the year 2009.
* Electoral calendar 2009
* 2009 United Nations Security Council election
Caribbean
* 2009 Antiguan general election
* 2009 Aruban general election
* 2009 Caymanian constitutional referendu ...
, and retained his seat in the subsequent election. In 2011 he was one of the five members to leave the Labor Party to establish
Independence
Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...
, and was appointed to the newly created post of Minister for the Home Front, having originally been made
Minister of Minorities.
Diplomatic career
In February 2012 Vilnai was appointed Israel's ambassador to China. His Knesset seat was taken by
Shachiv Shnaan
Shachiv Shnaan ( ar, شكيب شنان, he, שכיב שנאן; born 20 June 1960) is an Israeli-Druze politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Independence.
Early life and education
Shnaan, a Druze, was born and raised in Hurfeish. I ...
.
Vilnai served in office until January 2017. Vilnai serves since 2018 as the President of the Israel-Asia Chamber of Commerce.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vilnai, Matan
1944 births
Living people
Deputy ministers of Israel
Independence (Israeli political party) politicians
Israeli generals
Israeli Jews
Israeli Labor Party politicians
Jewish Israeli politicians
Jews in Mandatory Palestine
Members of the 15th Knesset (1999–2003)
Members of the 16th Knesset (2003–2006)
Members of the 17th Knesset (2006–2009)
Members of the 18th Knesset (2009–2013)
Ambassadors of Israel to China
Ministers of Sport of Israel
One Israel politicians
Operation Entebbe
People from Jerusalem
Ministers of Culture of Israel