For the forename of U.S. President Barack Obama, see Mubarak.

Barak (English pronunciation: /ˈbɛəræk/ or /ˈbɛərək/;^[1] Hebrew: בָּרָק‎‎, Tiberian: Bārāq, "Lightning; Shine", Greek: βαρακ),, Al-Burāq (Arabic: البُراق‎ al-Burāq "lightning") the son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, was a military general in the Book of Judges in the Bible. He was the commander of the army of Deborah, the prophetess and heroine of the Hebrew Bible. Barak and Deborah are credited with defeating the Canaanite armies led by Sisera, who for twenty years had oppressed the Israelites.

The story of the defeat of the Canaanites under the prophetic leadership of Deborah and the military leadership of Barak, is related in prose (Judges chapter 4) and repeated in poetry (chapter 5, which is known as the Song of Deborah). Chapter 4 makes the chief enemy Jabin, king of Hazor (present Tell el-Qedah, about three miles southwest of Hula Basin), though a prominent part is played by his commander-in-chief, Sisera of Harosheth-ha-goiim (possibly Tell el-'Amr, approximately 12 miles (19 km) northwest of Megiddo).

Deborah said that Barak would win, but Sisera would be killed by a woman. In the battle at Mount Tabor, a cloudburst occurred, causing the river to flood, thus limiting the maneuverability of the Canaanite chariots. Sisera fled, seeking refuge in the tent of a Kenite woman, Jael. Jael gave Sisera a drink of milk and he fell asleep from weariness. Then she pounded a tent peg through his head. When Barak came along, she let him see Sisera dead in her tent. Later Israel slew King Jabin.

Jael shows the slain Sisera to Barak, by Albert Joseph Moore.

Grave near Tel Kadesh attributed to Barak or Deborah

References[link]

Ehud Barak
Minister of Defense
Incumbent
Assumed office March 28, 2007
Prime Minister	Ehud Olmert Benjamin Netanyahu
Preceded by	Amir Peretz
Prime Minister of Israel
In office 6 July 1999 – 7 March 2001
President	Ezer Weizman Moshe Katsav
Preceded by	Benjamin Netanyahu
Succeeded by	Ariel Sharon
Personal details
Born	Ehud Brog (1942-02-12) 12 February 1942 (age 70) Mishmar HaSharon, British Mandate of Palestine
Political party	Labor Party (until 2011) Independence (from 2011)
Spouse(s)	Nava Cohen (divorced) Nili Priel
Children	3
Alma mater	Hebrew University Stanford University
Profession	Military officer
Religion	Judaism
Signature
Military service
Service/branch	Israeli Army
Years of service	1959 - 1995
Rank	Lieutenant General
Battles/wars	Yom Kippur War Operation Entebbe

Ehud Barak (Hebrew: אהוד ברק (help·info); born Ehud Brog on 12 February 1942) is an Israeli politician who served as Prime Minister from 1999 to 2001. He was leader of the Labor Party until January 2011^[1] and holds the posts of Minister of Defense and Deputy Prime Minister in Binyamin Netanyahu's government.

He is a graduate in physics, mathematics, and economics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Stanford University. He served as an officer in the Israel Defense Forces. Following a highly decorated career, he was appointed Chief of General Staff in 1991, serving until 1995.

Personal life[link]

He was born on 12 February 1942 in kibbutz Mishmar HaSharon in Israel.^[2] He is the eldest of four sons of Esther (née Godin) (b. 1913) and Yisrael Mendel Brog (1910-2002).

His paternal grandparents, Frieda and Reuven Brog, were murdered in Pušalotas (Pushelat) in the northern Lithuania (then ruled by Russian Empire) in 1912, leaving his father orphaned at the age of two. Barak's maternal grandparents, Elka and Shmuel Godin, died at the Treblinka extermination camp during the Holocaust.

Ehud hebraized his family name from "Brog" to "Barak" in 1972. It was during his military service that he met his future wife, Nava (née Cohen). They had three daughters together. Barak divorced Nava in August 2003. On 30 July 2007 Barak married Nili Priel in a small ceremony in his private residence. In his spare time, Barak enjoys reading works by writers such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.^[3]

In 2005, he was voted the 61st-greatest Israeli of all time, in a poll by the Israeli news website Ynet to determine whom the general public considered the 200 Greatest Israelis.^[4]

Education[link]

Barak earned his bachelor's degree in physics and mathematics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1968, and his master's degree in engineering-economic systems in 1978 from Stanford University, in California.

Military service[link]

Barak joined the Israel Defense Forces (I.D.F.) in 1959. He served in the IDF for 35 years, rising to the position of Chief of the General Staff and the rank of Rav Aluf (Lieutenant-General), the highest in the Israeli military. During the Yom Kippur War, Barak commanded an improvised regiment of tanks which among other things, helped rescue paratrooper battalion 890 commanded by Yitzhak Mordechai who were suffering heavy losses in the Battle of the Chinese Farm.

Ehud Barak with Legion of Merit (1993)

During his service as a commando in the elite Sayeret Matkal, Barak led several highly acclaimed operations, such as: "Operation Isotope", the rescue mission to free the hostages onboard Sabena Flight 571 at Lod Airport in 1972; the 1973 covert mission Operation Spring of Youth in Beirut, in which he was disguised as a woman in order to assassinate members of the Palestine Liberation Organization; Barak was also a key architect of the June 1976 Operation Entebbe, another rescue mission to free the hostages of the Air France aircraft hijacked by terrorists and forced to land at the Entebbe Airport in Uganda. These highly acclaimed operations, along with Operation Bayonet led to the dismantling of Palestinian terrorist cell Black September. It has been alluded that Barak also masterminded the Tunis Raid on 16 April 1988, in which PLO leader Abu Jihad was assassinated.^[5]

Later he served as head of Aman, the Military Intelligence Directorate (1983–85), head of Central Command (1986–87) and Deputy Chief of the General Staff (1987–91). He served as Chief of the General Staff between 1 April 1991 and 1 January 1995. During this period he implemented the first Oslo Accords and participated in the negotiations towards the Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace.

Barak was awarded the Medal of Distinguished Service and four Chief of Staff citations (Tzalash HaRamatkal) for courage and operational excellence. These five decorations make him the most decorated soldier in Israeli history (jointly with close friend Nechemya Cohen).^[6] In 1992 he was also awarded the Legion of Merit (Commander) by the United States.^[7]

Political career[link]

On 7 July 1995 Barak was appointed Minister of Internal Affairs by Yitzhak Rabin. When Shimon Peres formed a new government following Rabin's assassination in November 1995, Barak was made Minister of Foreign Affairs (1995–96). He was elected to the Knesset on the Labor Party list in 1996, and served as a member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Following internal elections after Peres' defeat in the election for Prime Minister in 1996, Barak became the leader of the Labor Party.

Prime Minister of Israel[link]

Barak at the Pentagon (1999)

In the 1999 Prime Ministerial election, Barak beat Binyamin Netanyahu by a wide margin. However, he sparked controversy by deciding to form a coalition with the ultra-Orthodox party Shas, who had won an unprecedented 17 seats in the 120-seat Knesset. Shas grudgingly agreed to Barak's terms that they eject their leader Aryeh Deri, a convicted felon, and enact reform to "clean up" in-party corruption. Consequentially, the left wing Meretz party quit the coalition after they failed to agree on the powers to be given to a Shas deputy minister in the Ministry of Education.

Ehud Barak shaking hands with Yassir Arafat, joined by President Clinton (1999)

In 1999 Barak gave a campaign promise to end Israel's 22-year long occupation of Southern Lebanon within a year. On 24 May 2000 Israel withdrew from Southern Lebanon. On 7 October, three Israeli soldiers were killed in a border raid by Hezbollah and their bodies were subsequently captured. The bodies of these soldiers, along with the living Elhanan Tenenbaum, were eventually exchanged for Lebanese captives in 2004.

The Barak government resumed peace negotiations with the PLO, stating that “Every attempt [by the State of Israel] to keep hold of this area [the West Bank and Gaza] as one political entity leads, necessarily, to either a nondemocratic or a non-Jewish state. Because if the Palestinians vote, then it is a binational state, and if they don’t vote it is an apartheid state.”^[8] As part of these negotiations, Barak took part in the Camp David 2000 Summit which was meant finally to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but failed. Barak also allowed Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami to attend the Taba Summit with the leadership of the Palestinian Authority, after his government had fallen.

Domestic issues[link]

In August 1999, Barak appointed the Tal committee which dealt with the controversial issue of ultra-Orthodox Jews' exemption from military service. Riots in October 2000 led to the killing of twelve Israeli-Arabs and one Palestinian by Israel Police and one Jewish civilian by Israeli Arabs.

Resignation[link]

In 2001 Barak called a special election for Prime Minister. In the contest, he was defeated by Likud leader Ariel Sharon, and subsequently resigned as Labor leader and from the Knesset. He left Israel to work as a senior advisor with United States-based Electronic Data Systems. He also partnered with a private equity company focused on "security-related" work.

Return to politics[link]

In 2005, Barak announced his return to Israeli politics, and ran for leadership of the Labor Party in November. However, in light of his weak poll showings, Barak dropped out of the race early and declared his support for veteran statesman Shimon Peres. Following his failed attempt to maintain leadership of the Labor party, Barak became a partner of the investment company SCP Private Equity Partners, Pennsylvania. He also established a company "Ehud Barak Limited" which is thought to have made over NIS 30 million.^[9]

After Peres lost the race to Amir Peretz and left the Labor party, Barak announced he would stay at the party, despite his shaky relationship with its newly elected leader. He declared, however, that he would not run for a spot on the Labor party's Knesset list for the March 2006 elections. Barak's attempt to return to a prominent role in Israel politics seemed to have failed. However, Peretz's hold on the Labor leadership proved unexpectedly shaky as he was badly damaged by negative views of his performance as Defense Minister during the 2006 Lebanon War, which was seen as something less than a success in Israel.^[10]

In January 2007 Barak launched a bid to recapture the leadership of the Labor party in a letter acknowledging "mistakes" and "inexperience" during his tenure as Prime Minister.^[11] In early March 2007, a poll of Labor Party primary voters put Barak ahead of all other opponents, including Peretz.^[12] In the first round of voting, on 28 May 2007, he gained 39% of the votes, more than his two closest rivals, but not enough to win the election.^[13]

As a result, Barak faced a runoff against the second-place finisher, Ami Ayalon, on 12 June 2007, which he won by a narrow margin.^[14]

Barak has been critical of what he sees as racist sentiments that have recently been expressed by some Israeli rabbis and rebbetzins; he views such statements as a threat to Israeli unity and that they may lead Israeli society into a "dark and dangerous place".^[15]

Defense Minister[link]

Ehud Barak and Condoleezza Rice (2007)

As head of the Labor Party[link]

After winning back the leadership of the Labor party, Barak was sworn in as Minister of Defense on 18 June 2007, as part of Prime Minister Olmert's cabinet reshuffle. However on 1 July 2007, Barak led a successful effort in the Labor central committee to stipulate that Labor would leave the government coalition if Olmert did not resign by September or October 2007. At that time the Winograd Commission would publish its final report on the performance of the Israel Defense Forces and its civilian leadership. The preliminary Winograd report released earlier this year laid most of the blame on Olmert for poorly planning, executing, and reviewing war strategies in the 2006 conflict against Hezbollah.^{[citation needed]}

During December 2008 through January 2009, Barak led (as defense minister) Operation Cast Lead.

Labor won only 13 out of the 120 Knesset seats in the 2009 elections, making them the fourth largest party. Barak and other Labor officials initially stated they would not take part in the next government. However, over the objections of some in the Labor party, Barak later^[when?] reached an agreement under which Labor joined the governing coalition. Barak retained his position as Defense Minister.

Leaving the Labor Party[link]

In January 2011, Labor Party leader Barak formed a breakaway party, Independence, which enabled him to maintain his loyal Labor's MK faction within Netanyahu's government, and prevented the departure of Labor party as a whole from Netanyahu's coalition-government. Labor previously threatened to force Barak to do so. After Barak's move, Netanyahu was able to maintain a majority of 66 MK (out of 120 in the Knesset), previously having 74 MKs within his majority coalition.

In February 2011, Barak attended a ceremony at the UN for the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust. Barak told the UN General Assembly: “an independent, strong, thriving and peaceful State of Israel is the vengeance of the dead. On this day, when we remember the six million victims, let us also remember two lessons: first, ‘the Holocaust – never again.’ And second – an independent, strong, thriving and peaceful State of Israel is the vengeance of the dead.”^[16]

Barak stated during an American television interview that he would "probably" strive for nuclear weapons if he were in Iran’s position, adding "I don’t delude myself that they are doing it just because of Israel".^[17] This comment has been criticized and compared to Barak's comment in 1998 during a television interview when he said that if he were a Palestinian he would probably have joined one of the terror organizations.^[17]

References in popular culture[link]

• The film Munich includes a scene reflecting the real Barak's experience leading his Sayeret Matkal unit in the commando raid Operation Spring of Youth; he is mentioned by name, and appears disguised as a woman in high heels while firing on presumed PLO Leaders.^[18]

See also[link]

	Israel portal
	Biography portal

• List of Israel's Chiefs of the General Staff

References[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Ehud Barak

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ehud Barak

Bibliography[link]

• Bregman, Ahron Elusive Peace: How the Holy Land Defeated America.
• Clinton, Bill (2005). My Life. Vintage. ISBN 1-4000-3003-X.
• Dromi, Uri (5 November 2005). "Still craving peace 10 years after Rabin". New Straits Times, p. 20.

External links[link]

• Ehud Barak – official site (Hebrew)
• Ehud Barak Knesset website
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Ehud Barak on Charlie Rose
• Ehud Barak at the Internet Movie Database
• Ehud Barak collected news and commentary at Al Jazeera English
• Ehud Barak collected news and commentary at The Electronic Intifada
• Ehud Barak collected news and commentary at The Jerusalem Post
• Ehud Barak collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Works by or about Ehud Barak in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Ehud Barak at the Notable Names Database
• Defense Minister Ehud Barak at Ynetnews, profile

v t e Heads of the Israeli Military Intelligence Directorate Be'eri (1948–49) · Herzog (1949–50) · Gibli (1950–55) · Harkabi (1955–59) · Herzog (1959–62) · Amit (1962–63) · Yariv (1964–72) · Zeira (1972–74) · Gazit (1974–78) · Saguy (1979–83) · Barak (1983–85) · Lipkin-Shahak (1986–91) · Sagi (1991–95) · Ya'alon (1995–98) · Malka (1998–2002) · Ze'evi-Farkash (2002–06) · Yadlin (2006–2010) · Kochavi (2010–)

v t e Deputy Chiefs of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces Tzvi Ayalon (1948–49) Mordechai Maklef (1949–52) Haim Laskov (1955–56) Tzvi Tzur (1958) Yitzhak Rabin (1961–63) Haim Bar-Lev (1967–68) Israel Tal (1973) Yekutiel Adam (1978–82) Moshe Levi (1982–83) David Ivry (1983–85) Dan Shomron (1985–86) Amir Drori (1986–87) Ehud Barak (1987–91) Amnon Lipkin-Shahak (1991–94) Matan Vilnai (1994–97) Shaul Mofaz (1997–98) Uzi Dayan (1998–99) Moshe Ya'alon (1999–2002) Gabi Ashkenazi (2002–04) Dan Halutz (2004–05) Moshe Kaplinsky (2005–07) Dan Harel (2007–09) Benny Gantz (2009–10) Yair Naveh (2010–present)

v t e Chiefs of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces Yaakov Dori (1947–49) Yigael Yadin (1949–52) Mordechai Maklef (1952–53) Moshe Dayan (1953–58) Haim Laskov (1958–61) Tzvi Tzur (1961–64) Yitzhak Rabin (1964–68) Haim Bar-Lev (1968–72) David Elazar (1972–74) Mordechai Gur (1974–78) Rafael Eitan (1978–83) Moshe Levi (1983–87) Dan Shomron (1987–91) Ehud Barak (1991–95) Amnon Lipkin-Shahak (1995–98) Shaul Mofaz (1998–2002) Moshe Ya'alon (2002–05) Dan Halutz (2005–07) Gabi Ashkenazi (2007–2011) Benny Gantz (2011–present)

v t e Prime Ministers of Israel Ben-Gurion (1948–53) Sharett (1953–55) Ben-Gurion (1955–63) Eshkol (1963–69) Allon (acting) Meir (1969–74) Rabin (1974–77) Begin (1977–83) Shamir (1983–84) Peres (1984–86) Shamir (1986–92) Rabin (1992–95) Peres (1995–96) Netanyahu (1996–99) Barak (1999–2001) Sharon (2001–06) Olmert (2006–09) Netanyahu (2009–present)

v t e Agriculture and Rural Development Ministers of Israel Zisling (1948–49) Yosef (1949–50) Lavon (1950–51) Eshkol (1951–52) Naftali (1952–55) Luz (1955–59) Dayan (1959–64) Gvati (1964–74) Uzan (1974–77) Sharon (1977–81) Erlich (1981–83) Begin (1983) Grupper (1983–84) Nehemkin (1984–88) Katz-Oz (1988–90) Eitan (1990–91) Tzur (1992–96) Eitan (1996–99) Oron (1999–2000) Barak (2000–01) Simhon (2001–02) Livni (2002–03) Katz (2003–06) Boim (2006) Simhon (2006–11) Noked (2011–)

v t e Defense Ministers of Israel Ben-Gurion (1948–54) Lavon (1954–55) Ben-Gurion (1955–63) Eshkol (1963–67) Dayan (1967–74) Peres (1974–77) Weizman (1977–80) Begin (1980–81) Sharon (1981–83) Arens (1983–84) Rabin (1984–90) Shamir (1990) Arens (1990–92) Rabin (1992–95) Peres (1995–96) Mordechai (1996–99) Arens (1999) Barak (1999–2001) Ben-Eliezer (2001–02) Mofaz (2002–06) Peretz (2006–07) Barak (2007–)

v t e Education Ministers of Israel Shazar (1949–50) Remez (1950–51) Ben-Gurion (1951) Dinur (1951–55) Aran (1955–60) Eban (1960–63) Aran (1963–69) Allon (1969–74) Yadlin (1974–77) Hammer (1977–84) Navon (1984–90) Hammer (1990–92) Aloni (1992–93) Rabin (1993) Rubinstein (1993–96) Hammer (1996–98) Levy (1998–99) Sarid (1999–2000) Barak (2000–01) Livnat (2001–06) Sheetrit (2006) Tamir (2006–09) Sa'ar (2009–)

v t e Foreign Affairs Ministers of Israel Sharett (1948–56) Meir (1956–66) Eban (1966–74) Allon (1974–77) Dayan (1977–79) Shamir (1980–86) Peres (1986–88) Arens (1988–90) Levy (1990–92) Peres (1992–95) Barak (1995–96) Levy (1996–98) Sharon (1998–99) Levy (1999–2000) Ben-Ami (2000–01) Peres (2001–02) Netanyahu (2002–03) Shalom (2003–06) Livni (2006–09) Lieberman (2009–)

v t e Immigrant Absorption Ministers of Israel Shapira (1948–51) Allon (1968–69) Peres (1969–70) Peled (1970–74) Rosen (1974–77) Levy (1977–81) Abuhatzira (1981–82) Uzan (1982–84) Tzur (1984–88) Peretz (1988–92) Tzaban (1992–96) Edelstein (1996–99) Barak (1999) Tamir (1999–2001) Sharon (2001–03) Livni (2003–06) Boim (2006–07) Edri (2007–08) Aflalo (2008–09) Landver (2009–)

v t e Industry, Trade and Labour Ministers of Israel Bernstein (1948–49) Kaplan (1949–50) Geri (1950–51) Yosef (1951–52) Bernstein (1952–55) Naftali (1955) Sapir (1955–65) Zadok (1965–66) Sherf (1966–69) Sapir (1969–70) Sapir (1970–72) Bar-Lev (1972–77) Hurvitz (1977–78) Patt (1979–84) Sharon (1984–90) Nissim (1990–92) Harish (1992–96) Sharansky (1996–99) Cohen (1999–2000) Barak (2000–01) Itzik (2001–02) Sharon (2002–03) Olmert (2003–06) Yishai (2006–09) Ben-Eliezer (2009–11) Simhon (2011–)

v t e Internal Affairs Ministers of Israel Gruenbaum (1948–49) Shapira (1949–52) Rokach (1952–55) Shapira (1955) Bar-Yehuda (1955–59) Shapira (1959–70) Meir (1970) Burg (1970–74) Hillel (1974) Burg (1974–76) Hillel (1977) Burg (1977–84) Peres (1984) Peretz (1984–87) Shamir (1987–88) Deri (1988–93) Rabin (1993) Deri (1993) Rabin (1993–95) Baram (1995) Libai (1995) Barak (1995) Ramon (1995–96) Suissa (1996–99) Sharansky (1999–2000) Ramon (2000–01) Yishai (2001–02) Sharon (2002) Yishai (2002–03) Poraz (2003–04) Pines-Paz (2005) Sharon (2004–06) Bar-On (2006–07) Sheetrit (2007–09)) Yishai (from 2009)

v t e Science and Technology Ministers of Israel Ne'eman (1982–84) Patt (1984–88) Weizman (1988–90) Ne'eman (1990–92) Rubinstein (1992) Sheetrit (1992–93) Aloni (1993–96) Begin (1996–97) Netanyahu (1996–97) Eitan (1997–98) Shalom (1998–99) Barak (1999) Vilnai (1999–2001) Sandberg (2003–04) Shalgi (2004) Brailovsky (2004) Vilnai (2005) Bar-On (2006) Pines-Paz (2006) Majadele (2007–09) Hershkowitz (2009–)

v t e Tourism Ministers of Israel Govrin (1964–66) Kol (1966–77) Patt (1981) Sharir (1981–88) Patt (1988–92) Baram (1992–96) Katsav (1996–99) Barak (1999) Lipkin-Shahak (1999–2001) Ze'evi (2001) Elon (2001–02) Levy (2002–03) Elon (2003–04) Ezra (2004–05) Hirschson (2005–06) Herzog (2006–07) Aharonovich (2007–08) Avraham (2008–09) Misezhnikov (2009–)

Wolf Blitzer
Blitzer at Democratic Party presidential primary debate in Los Angeles, California, January 31, 2008
Born	Wolf Isaac Blitzer (1948-03-22) March 22, 1948 (age 64) Augsburg, Germany
Education	University at Buffalo (BA) Johns Hopkins University (MA)
Occupation	Journalist
Years active	1972–present
Title	CNN The Situation Room anchor
Religion	Jewish[1]
Website
http://www.cnn.com/CNN/anchors_reporters/blitzer.wolf.html

Wolf Isaac Blitzer (born March 22, 1948) is an American journalist who has been a CNN reporter since 1990. Blitzer is currently the host of the newscast The Situation Room and was the host of the Sunday talk show Late Edition until it was discontinued on January 11, 2009. Blitzer previously hosted Wolf Blitzer Reports, which was replaced by The Situation Room.

Early life[link]

The son of Jewish refugees from Poland,^[2] Wolf Blitzer was born in Augsburg, Germany^[3][4] and raised in Buffalo, New York. Blitzer graduated from Kenmore West Senior High School and received a Bachelor of Arts in history from the University at Buffalo in 1970. While there, he was a brother of Alpha Epsilon Pi. In 1972, he received a Master of Arts in international relations from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. While at Johns Hopkins, Blitzer studied abroad at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he learned Hebrew.^[5]

Name[link]

Blitzer has said that he has frequently been asked about his name, which has been characterized as seemingly "made-for-TV".^[6] In a Wayne's World Saturday Night Live sketch which was aired during the Persian Gulf War, Wayne and Garth picked Blitzer as having the "worst name" of any war correspondent, with Garth remarking, "It's so obvious the guy made it up for the war!" ^[7] Blitzer explains that his surname goes back for generations, and his first name, 'Wolf', is the same first name as his maternal grandfather.

In writing for several Israeli newspapers in Washington, Blitzer has used the names Zev Blitzer and Zev Barak.^[8] Zev (זאב) is the Hebrew word for "wolf".

Career[link]

Washington and Jerusalem[link]

Blitzer began his career in journalism in the early 1970s in the Tel Aviv bureau of the Reuters news agency. In 1973 he caught the eye of Jerusalem Post editor Ari Rath, who hired Blitzer as a Washington correspondent for the English language Israeli newspaper. Blitzer would remain with the Jerusalem Post until 1990, covering both American politics and developments in the Middle East.^[9]

In the mid-1970s, Blitzer also contributed to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) as the editor of their monthly publication, the Near East Report.^[10][11] While at AIPAC, Blitzer's writing focused on Middle East affairs as they relate to United States foreign policy.

At an April 1977 White House press conference, Blitzer asked Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat why Egyptian scholars, athletes and journalists were not permitted to visit Israel. Sadat, somewhat taken aback, responded that such visits would be possible after an end to the state of belligerence between the two nations. This was Sadat's first public acknowledgment that peace between Egypt and Israel was possible. In November of that year, Sadat made a historic visit to Israel, and Blitzer covered the negotiations between the two countries from the first joint Israeli-Egyptian press conference in 1977 to the final negotiations that would lead to the signing of the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty two years later.^[9]

Fluent in Hebrew, in this period Blitzer also published articles for several Israeli-based newspapers. Under the name Zev Blitzer, he wrote for Al HaMishmar; using the name Zev Barak, he had work published in Yedioth Ahronoth.^[8]

In 1985, Blitzer published his first book, Between Washington and Jerusalem: A Reporter's Notebook (Oxford University Press, 1985). The text outlined his personal development as a reporter, and the relations between the United States and Israel.

Jonathan Pollard[link]

In 1986, he became known for his coverage of the arrest and trial of Jonathan Pollard, an American Jew who was charged with spying for Israel.^[9] Blitzer was the first journalist to interview Pollard, and he would later write a book about the Pollard Affair titled Territory of Lies.^[12] In the book, Blitzer writes that Pollard contacted him because he had been reading Blitzer's byline for years, and because Blitzer "had apparently impressed him as someone who was sympathetic".^[13] Pollard also hoped that Blitzer would help him "reach the people of Israel, as well as the American Jewish community."^[14]

Blitzer's interview with Pollard was controversial in the context of the legal action against him, as it was construed by some media voices as a possible violation of the terms of Pollard's plea deal, which forbade media contact. Blitzer's subsequent book about the affair was included in The New York Times list of "Notable Books of the Year" for 1989.^[15] In its review, the Times praised the book as "lucid and highly readable" and called Blitzer's judgment of Israeli officials "harsh but fair".^[16]

A review in The New York Review of Books was more critical, prompting a letter from Blitzer accusing the reviewer of making several inaccurate statements. Reviewer Robert I. Friedman responded to Blitzer's criticism by characterizing Territory of Lies as "a slick piece of damage control that would make [Blitzer's] former employers at AIPAC (not to mention Israel's Defense Ministry) proud."^[17]

Cable News Network[link]

Blitzer reviews notes during a break from presenting from the floor of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado.

In May 1990, Blitzer moved to CNN and worked as the cable network's military affairs reporter. Blitzer spent a month in Moscow in 1991, and was one of the first Western reporters to visit KGB headquarters. His team's coverage of the first Gulf War in Kuwait won a CableACE Award and made him a household name.

In 1992, Blitzer became CNN's White House correspondent, a position he would hold until 1999. During this period, he earned an Emmy Award for his coverage of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. In 1998, he began hosting the CNN Sunday morning interview program Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer, which was seen in over 180 countries. Blitzer's first assignment as an anchor was on the daily newscast The World Today, in 1999. In 2000, he started anchoring his own show, Wolf Blitzer Reports.

CNN selected Blitzer to anchor their coverage of the 2004 presidential election and the 2008 presidential election. Since August 8, 2005, Blitzer has hosted The Situation Room, a three-hour afternoon/early evening program on CNN.^[18][19]

Awards[link]

Blitzer has won awards including the 2004 Journalist Pillar of Justice Award from the Respect for Law Alliance and the 2003 Daniel Pearl Award from the Chicago Press Veterans Association. His news team was among those awarded a George Foster Peabody Award for coverage of Hurricane Katrina, an Alfred I. DuPont Award for coverage of the 1999 Southeast Asian tsunami, and an Edward R. Murrow Award for CNN's coverage of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

In November 2002, he won the American Veteran Awards' Ernie Pyle Journalism Award for military reporting. In February 2000, he received the Anti-Defamation League’s Hubert H. Humphrey First Amendment Freedoms Prize. In 1999, Blitzer won the International Platform Association's Lowell Thomas Broadcast Journalism Award. Blitzer won an Emmy Award for his coverage of the Oklahoma City bombing. Blitzer was also part of the CNN team that was awarded a Golden ACE award for their 1991 Gulf War reporting. In 1994, American Journalism Review cited him and CNN as the readers' choice for the Best in the Business Award for network coverage of the Clinton administration.^[18] On May 23, 2010, Blitzer was awarded the honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by Niagara University at their undergraduate commencement exercise. Also, on May 14, 2011 he received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Penn State University. On September 25, 2011, Blitzer was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by the University of Hartford.^[20]

Other media appearances[link]

Blitzer appears as himself in the 2009 documentary "Back Door Channels: The Price of Peace." The film deals with the back room negotiations that lead to the historic 1979 Peace Treaty between Israel and Egypt. At the time, Blitzer was the Washington Bureau Chief of the Jerusalem Post, and played a key role in establishing a back channel of communications between Israel and the White House by introducing President Carter's General Counsel, Robert Lipshutz, to New York businessman Leon Charney, a close friend of then Israeli Defense Minister Ezer Weizman.^[21] The flow of information between Weizman and Carter, via Charney and Lipshutz, contributed to finalizing the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt.

On September 17, 2009, Blitzer competed on an episode of Celebrity Jeopardy!, finishing the Double Jeopardy round with −$4,600. He was given $1,000 to bet in Final Jeopardy!, finishing with $2,000 and ultimately losing to comedian Andy Richter, who won $68,000 for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.^[22][23] In an odd twist, a minor league soccer team from Blitzer's home town of Buffalo held a nickname contest and FC Buffalo's winner was "Blitzers."

Family[link]

Blitzer and his wife Lynn Greenfield live in Bethesda, Maryland, and have one daughter, Ilana, born in 1981.^[24]  

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Wolf Blitzer

• CNN bio
• CNN.com — The Situation Room
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Wolf Blitzer on Charlie Rose
• Wolf Blitzer at the Internet Movie Database
• Works by or about Wolf Blitzer in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Wolf Blitzer at the Notable Names Database
• "Wolf Blitzer for the Defense (Department)", Jim Naureckas, FAIR Extra!, January/February 2003
• Google Video on Israel Discussion - Held Nov 1989.