Simcha Dinitz ( he, שמחה דיניץ, born 23 June 1929, died 23 September 2003) was an Israeli

statesman A statesman or stateswoman typically is a politician who has had a long and respected political career at the national or international level. Statesman or Statesmen may also refer to: Newspapers United States * ''The Statesman'' (Oregon), a ...

and politician. He served as Director General of the Prime Minister's office and political advisor to Prime Minister

Golda Meir Golda Meir, ; ar, جولدا مائير, Jūldā Māʾīr., group=nb (born Golda Mabovitch; 3 May 1898 – 8 December 1978) was an Israeli politician, teacher, and '' kibbutznikit'' who served as the fourth prime minister of Israel from 1969 to ...

from 1969 to 1973, before becoming the

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or s ...

to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

from 1973 to 1979. He had an overlapping appointment as the Non resident Ambassador to the Bahamas During the 1980s he was elected to 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 (wit ...

. Dinitz played a major role in coordinating the weapons shipments to Israel received from the U.S. during 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 E ...

airlift in 1973, and was a member of the Israeli delegation during the Camp David peace talks with

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

. In the 1984 elections he was elected to the Knesset on the

Alignment Alignment may refer to: Archaeology * Alignment (archaeology), a co-linear arrangement of features or structures with external landmarks * Stone alignment, a linear arrangement of upright, parallel megalithic standing stones Biology * Struc ...

's list and served as a member of its Committee for Foreign and Defense Affairs. However, he resigned from the Knesset shortly before the 1988 elections. From 1986 Dinitz served as Chairman of the Executive of the

World Zionist Organization The World Zionist Organization ( he, הַהִסְתַּדְּרוּת הַצִּיּוֹנִית הָעוֹלָמִית; ''HaHistadrut HaTzionit Ha'Olamit''), or WZO, is a non-governmental organization that promotes Zionism. It was founded as the ...

and

Jewish Agency for Israel The Jewish Agency for Israel ( he, הסוכנות היהודית לארץ ישראל, translit=HaSochnut HaYehudit L'Eretz Yisra'el) formerly known as The Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. ...

. During his time in office, almost 1 million Jews (about 7% of the entire Jewish population in the world)

emigrated to Israel Aliyah (, ; he, עֲלִיָּה ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel, which is in the modern era chiefly represented by the Israel, State of Israel ...

from the Soviet Union and other countries. In addition, he coordinated Operation Solomon, in which over 14,000

Ethiopian Jews The Beta Israel ( he, בֵּיתֶא יִשְׂרָאֵל, ''Bēteʾ Yīsrāʾēl''; gez, ቤተ እስራኤል, , modern ''Bēte 'Isrā'ēl'', EAE: "Betä Ǝsraʾel", "House of Israel" or "Community of Israel"), also known as Ethiopian Jews ...

were airlifted to safety in

in one day in May 1991. In 1995, Dinitz was forced to step down after he was indicted for two charges of theft."Ex-chief of Jewish Agency is guilty of credit card fraud"
/ref> Dinitz claimed that these were accounting errors, and was tried in the Jerusalem District Court. He was acquitted of one charge and convicted of the other, but the conviction was overturned in an appeal to the

Supreme Court of Israel ar, المحكمة العليا , image = Emblem of Israel dark blue full.svg , imagesize = 100px , caption = Emblem of Israel , motto = , established = , location = Givat Ram, Jerusalem , coordina ...

. Dinitz received his diplomatic training at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private research university in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll in 1789 as Georgetown College, the university has grown to comprise eleven undergraduate and graduate ...

in the United States where he obtained both bachelor's and master's degrees.

References

External links

* *The Central Zionist Archives in Jerusale
site
Office of Simcha Dinitz (S111) {{DEFAULTSORT:Dinitz, Simcha 1929 births 2003 deaths Walsh School of Foreign Service alumni Ambassadors of Israel to the United States Alignment (Israel) politicians Heads of the Jewish Agency for Israel Burials at Mount Herzl Members of the 11th Knesset (1984–1988) Ambassadors of Israel to the Bahamas