Moshe Arens Israeli aeronautical engineer, scientist, former diplomat and politician Date of Birth: 27.12.1925 Country: Israel

Biography of Moshe Arens

Moshe Arens is an Israeli aviation engineer, scientist, former diplomat, and politician. He was a member of the Likud party, serving as Minister of Defense three times and Minister of Foreign Affairs once. He was also Israel's ambassador to the United States and a professor at the Technion in Haifa.

Born in Kaunas, Lithuania in 1939, Arens immigrated to the United States with his family in 1939 and became a US citizen. He became a leader of the Zionist youth movement Betar while studying engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and aviation technology at the California Institute of Technology.

In 1948, when Israel declared independence, Arens repatriated to Israel and served in the Irgun under the leadership of Menachem Begin. After the war for independence, he settled in Mevo Beitar but returned to the US in 1951 to study at the California Institute of Technology, where he earned a master's degree in aviation technology in 1953. He then worked for several years in the development of jet engines in the United States.

In 1957, Arens returned to Israel and became an associate professor of aviation technology at the Technion in Haifa. He joined Israel Aircraft Industries in 1962 as vice president of technology while maintaining his affiliation with the Technion. He participated in the development of aircraft and missiles, winning the Israel Defense Prize in 1971. After the Yom Kippur War, he entered politics and was elected to the Knesset as a member of the Likud party in 1973, becoming chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

In 1981, Prime Minister Menachem Begin appointed Arens as ambassador to the United States. He left this position in 1983 when he became Minister of Defense for the first time, replacing Ariel Sharon. In 1984, he became Minister without Portfolio in the National Unity Government. In December 1988, in Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir's government, Arens was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs and served in that position until June 1990, when Shamir appointed him Minister of Defense again. He held this position until 1992 when Likud lost the general elections.

After the 1992 elections, Arens retired from politics until 1999 when he challenged Benjamin Netanyahu for leadership of the Likud party. Although he received only 18% of the votes, Netanyahu brought him into the government as Minister of Defense in January 1999, replacing Itzhak Mordechai. Arens permanently retired from politics at the end of 1999 when Likud lost the elections.

Today, Prof. Moshe Arens serves as Chairman of the International Board of Governors at Ariel University Center and writes articles for the newspaper Haaretz. He is considered by many as the right-wing ideological anchor of the Likud party. Arens, as one of the founding members of Menachem Begin's party Herut in 1948, helped Begin use the legacy of the founder of revisionist Zionism, Vladimir Jabotinsky, who died unexpectedly in 1940 without a clear successor. Arens was a representative in North America in the 1940s of the youth organization of the Betar movement. He voted against the Camp David Accords and is also one of the leading opponents of the Oslo Accords.

In 1988, Arens again failed to bypass Shamir for the party leadership. Nevertheless, he helped his protege Netanyahu enter the Knesset. Netanyahu was one of Arens' most valuable assets at the embassy in Washington and was rewarded by Arens when he organized the appointment of a young diplomat as Israel's ambassador to the UN in 1984.

Although always considered a principled alternative to Shamir, it never materialized. Shamir saw Arens as a threat and effectively responded to Netanyahu's entry into politics by supporting his own young protege, Tzachi Hanegbi. Arens had a reputation as a tough and blunt politician, while many Likud voters believed that the settler movement and other right-wing initiatives would be better served by a more experienced and pragmatic Shamir.

In 1990, Arens found himself in the spotlight after Finance Minister Shimon Peres and Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin resigned, intending to organize a majority in the Knesset to elect Shimon Peres as prime minister. Arens took the position of Minister of Defense, which nearly led to the resignation of Ehud Barak from the military. Barak was concerned that Arens, who had a vendetta against him over the "Lavi" project, would undermine his key personnel. However, Arens ignored the predictions and appointed Barak as Chief of General Staff, replacing his main rival, Itzhak Mordechai. Their relationship soon became excellent despite policy differences and Barak's clear preference for the Labor Party. In 1992, this successful period as Minister of Defense ended when Labor, under Rabin's leadership, came to power in the elections and once again took the Ministry of Defense.

Arens' tenures as minister were primarily remembered for continuing Rabin's policy of modernizing IDF combat units for urban warfare during the first intifada.