Simcha Dinitz (; 23 June 1929 - 23 September 2003) was an Israeli

statesman A statesman or stateswoman is a politician or a leader in an organization who has had a long and respected career at the national or international level, or in a given field. Statesman or statesmen may also refer to: Newspapers United States ...

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

Golda Meir Golda Meir (; 3 May 1898 – 8 December 1978) was the prime minister of Israel, serving from 1969 to 1974. She was Israel's first and only female head of government. Born into a Jewish family in Kyiv, Kiev, Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine) ...

from 1969 to 1973, before becoming the

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

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 so ...

to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

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 ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

. 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 fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states led by Egypt and S ...

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

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. 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 (; ''HaHistadrut HaTzionit Ha'Olamit''), or WZO, is a non-governmental organization that promotes Zionism. It was founded as the Zionist Organization (ZO; 1897–1960) at the initiative of Theodor Herzl at the F ...

and

Jewish Agency for Israel The Jewish Agency for Israel (), formerly known as the Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. It was established in 1929 as the operative branch of the World Zionist Organization (WZO). As an ...

. During his time in office, almost 1 million Jews (about 7% of the entire Jewish population in the world) emigrated to Israel from the Soviet Union and other countries. In addition, he coordinated

Operation Solomon Operation Solomon (, Mivtza Shlomo) was a covert Israeli military operation from May 24 to 25, 1991, to airlift Ethiopian Jews to Israel. Non-stop flights of 35 Israeli aircraft, including Israeli Air Force C-130s and El Al Boeing 747s, tran ...

, in which over 14,000

Ethiopian Jews Beta Israel, or Ethiopian Jews, is a Jewish group originating from the territory of the Amhara and Tigray regions in northern Ethiopia, where they are spread out across more than 500 small villages over a wide territory, alongside predominant ...

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 The Supreme Court of Israel (, Hebrew acronym Bagatz; ) is the Supreme court, highest court in Israel. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all other courts, and in some cases original jurisdiction. The Supreme Court consists of 15 jud ...

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

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

in the United States where he obtained both bachelor's and master's degrees. A street in the Beit Hakerem neighborhood in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

is named after him.

References

External links

* *The

Central Zionist Archives Central Zionist Archives (CZA; ) is the official archive of the institutions of the Zionist Movement: the World Zionist Organization, the Jewish Agency, the Jewish National Fund, and Keren Hayesod/the United Israel Appeal as well as the archive ...

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