Last Updated on January 7, 2019

Former Minister of Defense, Moshe Arens dies.

Former Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Arens passed away in his sleep on Monday, January 7th, 2019 at the age of 93.  He is survived by his wife, Muriel and his four children, Yigal and Raanan Rut and Aliza and his grandchildren.

13 interesting facts about Moshe Arens

1. Moshe Arens was born in Lithuania in 1925.
2. His family immigrated to the USA in 1939 when Moshe was 14 years old.
3. He enlisted in the US Army during World War II
4. He immigrated to Israel in 1948 after the establishment of the State of Israel.
5. Moshe Arens was a founding member of the Herut party, a forerunner of the Likud
6. Arens returned to the USA for 6 years, from 1951 – 1957 during which time he studies at MIT and CIT.
7. In 1957, Arens became professor of aeronautical engineering at the Technion, serving in this position until 1962.
8. Three times during his lifetime, Prof. Arens was a Member of the Knesset and held the positions of Israeli Minister of Defense and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1988 – 1990.
9. He was the Ambassador to the United States and his protege was Binyamin Netanyahu.
10. He also held the position of Vice President for Engineering at Israel Aircraft Industries. He served as Chairman of ZIM-the Israel navigation company and served on the Board of Directors of various Israeli companies.
11. In 1971, Arens won the Israel Defense Prize. In 2016, Nefesh B’Nefesh awarded him the Bonei Zion Prize
12. Moshe Arens authored 4 books; ‘In Defense of Israel’, his political memoirs, ‘Flags over the Warwaw Ghetto’, the story of the Warsaw Gehtto uprising, ‘Broken Covenant’, American Foreign Policy and the Crisis Between the U.S. and Israel and ‘Moshe Arens, Statesman and Scientist Speaks Out’
13. His close friends affectionately called him Misha.

His funeral will take place in Savvyon on Tuesday, January 8th 2019 at 2:00pm