Matan Vilnai

Matan Vilnai (Hebrew מתן וילנאי; born May 20, 1944 in Jerusalem) is an Israeli politician and former general in the Israel Defense Forces. Since February 2012, he is an ambassador in China.

Political career

After a military career as a paratrooper, he was immediately elected in 1999 a member of the Israeli Labor Party and Avodah for this in the Knesset. First, he was Minister of Science, Culture and Sport. After six months, he gave up his Knesset Colette Avital, but retained his ministerial post.

Also under the 2001 elected to the incumbent government, led by the conservative Likud under Ariel Sharon, he retained his office. In 2003 he was indeed re-elected to the Knesset, but lost under the now formed without working party of the new government to be minister. After re- forming a government in 2005 (right and extreme right-wing parties, the Sharon government abandoned because of the so-called convergence plan, which represents the evacuation of occupied Palestinian territories in view ), he was re-appointed as Minister, this time for science and technology.

For the 2006 elections Vilnai wanted to be leader of the Labour Party, but was defeated by Amir Peretz. Still, he could again move in the Knesset, and was appointed in July 2007 as Deputy Minister of Defence of the newly formed government under Ehud Barak. From 2009 he was Secretary of Homeland Security, until he was appointed as ambassador to China in February 2012.

Shoah statement

In connection with the massive rocket attacks by Hamas from the Gaza Strip Vilnai said end of February 2008 the following sentence: " If the Palestinians shoot more missiles and increase their reach, they put themselves in danger of " Shoah ", because we do everything in our power do all to defend ourselves, " Vilnai told military radio. The usual Hebrew word for catastrophe is " ason ", while the word used by Vilnai " sho'ah " in Israel today usually reserved for significance in the systematic genocide of around six million Jews in Europe during the period of National Socialism refers to, but also occasionally simply in the ( original ) meaning " big disaster" is used.