Matan Vilnai

Matan Vilnai
מתן וילנאי‎
Vilnai in 2008
Ministerial roles
1999–2002	Minister of Science, Culture & Sport
2005	Minister in the Prime Minister's Office
2005	Minister of Science and Technology
2011–2012	Minister for Home Front Defense
Faction represented in the Knesset
1999	One Israel
2003–2011	Labor Party
2011–2012	Independence
Other roles
2012–2017	Ambassador to China
Personal details
Born	(1944-05-20) 20 May 1944 (age 80) Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine
Parents	Zev Vilnay (father) Esther Vilnay (mother)

Matan Vilnai (Hebrew: 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 China in 2012. Since 2017 Vilnai serves as the president of the Israel-Asia Chamber of Commerce.

Biography

Matan Vilnai was born in Jerusalem. His father was Prof. Zev Vilnay, a pioneer in the sphere of Israeli geography and Land of Israel studies, from whom he inherited a love of nature and hiking.^[1] Matan graduated from the Hebrew Reali School in 1962 and was drafted into the IDF, serving in the Paratroopers Brigade and the elite reconnaissance unit Sayeret Matkal. He holds a B.A. in history from Tel Aviv University.

Vilnai lives in Mevasseret Zion and is married with three children.

Military career

Vilnai was deputy commander [1] of the assault force in Operation Thunderbolt, also known as the Entebbe Raid, to free Jewish and Israeli passengers taken hostage by Palestinian and German terrorists after their Air France plane was hijacked to Entebbe, 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 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,^[2] 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, Vilnai competed in the election for Labor Party leader alongside Shimon Peres and Binyamin Ben-Eliezer,^[3] but was beaten by Amir Peretz. 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, Vilnai threatened that Gazan Palestinians "will bring upon themselves a bigger shoah (lit. 'holocaust') because we will use all our might to defend ourselves."^{[4][5][6][7][8]} 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."^[9]

Vilnai won sixth place on the Labor list for the 2009 elections, 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, and was appointed to the newly created post of Minister for the Home Front,^[10] having originally been made Minister of Minorities.^[11]

Diplomatic career

In February 2012 Vilnai was appointed Israel's ambassador to China.^[12] His Knesset seat was taken by Shachiv Shnaan.^[13] Vilnai served in office until January 2017. Vilnai serves since 2018 as the President of the Israel-Asia Chamber of Commerce.

References

1. "Thousands Support JNF-KKL's Battle to Preserve Open Spaces in Jerusalem". Jewish National Fund. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 2 September 2007.
2. "Matan Vilnai tops Labor list; Yossi Beilin and other doves out". Haaretz. 11 December 2002. Archived from the original on 25 January 2007. Retrieved 18 May 2007.
3. Stern, Yoav; Mualem, Mazal (15 June 2005). "Labor hopefuls court the Arab vote". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 22 May 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2007.
4. Butcher, Tim (29 February 2008). "Israeli minister warns of Palestinian 'holocaust'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
5. "Israeli minister warns Palestinians of 'holocaust'". Ynetnews. 29 February 2008. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
6. "Israeli minister warns Palestinians of "holocaust"". Al Arabiya. 29 February 2008. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
7. Parke, Melissa (29 February 2008). "Israeli minister warns of Palestinian 'holocaust'". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
8. Abunimah, Ali (3 March 2008). "Israeli minister threatens 'holocaust' as public demands ceasefire talks". The Jordan Times. Retrieved 1 November 2015.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
9. "Barak: Hamas Will Pay for Its Escalation in the South". Haaretz. 29 February 2008. Archived from the original on 2 March 2008.
10. "PM announces creation of Homeland Security Ministry". The Jerusalem Post. 19 January 2011. Archived from the original on 20 January 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2011.
11. Lis, Jonathan; Mualem, Mazal (18 January 2011). "Barak's Atzmaut faction receives four portfolios in coalition government". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 19 January 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2011.
12. "Israel's home front minister appointed China envoy". Jerusalem. AFP. 12 February 2012. Archived from the original on 18 February 2014. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
13. "Replacements Among Knesset Members". Knesset website. Archived from the original on 13 April 2012. Retrieved 22 February 2012.

External links

• Official website
• Matan Vilnai on the Knesset website