Ezer Weizman: Outspoken maverick

President Weizman: No intention of resigning

Ezer Weizman is one of the last of the old generation of Ashkenazi (of European descent) Israeli leaders. But unlike most of his contemporaries, he has never been easy to categorise.

His quixotic spirit - some Israelis call it cantankerous - has seen him play the roles variously of military hero and ardent campaigner for peace, of supporter of the Israeli right and campaigner for the left.

As President of Israel, Mr Weizman broke with tradition. Instead of remaining aloof from political controversy, he frequently jumped in with both feet.

And he brought an unprecedented air of informality to the highest office in the land. Above all he refused to restrain his instinct to speak his mind, whatever the consequences.

I have never, never ducked a fight and I am not going to start now

President Weizman

In an address to the nation after allegations of financial irregularities had been directed at him he said: "I have never never ducked a fight and I am not going to start now."

Ezer Weizman, nephew of Chaim Weizman, the first president of Israel, was born in Tel Aviv in British-ruled Palestine in 1924. He was brought up in the northern port city of Haifa.

War role

As a young man during World War Two, Ezer Weizman joined the British Royal Air Force as a pilot, serving in Egypt and India. After the war he was one of the founders of the air wing of the Haganah, the main Jewish underground group fighting to end British rule in Palestine and establish a Jewish state there.

After the creation of Israel in 1948, the young pilot played a leading role in the establishment and expansion of the Israeli air force, and for eight years he was its commander.

During the 1967 Middle East war, when Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Golan Heights, he was deputy chief of staff.

Resigning from the military in 1969, he entered politics. His first major job was taking charge of the election campaign which ended the Labour party's grip on Israeli politics and brought the right-wing Likud bloc, led by Menachem Begin, to power in Israel for the first time.

Mr Weizman subsequently became a key figure in the negotiations that led to the 1979 peace treaty between Israel and Egypt - establishing a friendship with President Anwar Sadat in the process.

Weizman the peacemaker

In 1980 he broke away from Likud, forming his own party which had a dovish agenda. Six years later he joined the Labour party, serving in successive cabinets.

By now an ardent campaigner for peace with the Arabs, he even broke the law in force at the time, by meeting the Palestine Liberation Organisation leader, Yasser Arafat.

In 1992, Ezer Weizman gave up politics, but the following year was chosen as the seventh President of Israel. Up to that point the presidency had been a largely ceremonial post. But Mr Weizman, with his strong and colourful personality, had never been a man to stand on ceremony.

And becoming president did not alter his behaviour. "I will behave as I think I should," he said, after being a elected for a second term in office in 1998, "and I will not change anything."

Political controversy

During the years when the former Likud leader, Binyamin Netanyahu, was prime minister, President Weizman caused a political storm by openly criticising what he regarded as the government's refusal to advance the peace process with the Palestinians.

For a period, the two men could barely bring themselves to exchange a word with each other. "I have gone beyond becoming angry with Bibi [Netanyahu] about various things," the president said on one occasion.

On the whole, Israelis have expressed their approval of the air of informality and the no-nonsense attitude that he has brought to the presidency - reflecting the outlook of the nation as a whole.

He has been called the country's most respected public figure - with opinion polls at the time of his re-election showing 70% public support for him. Most Israelis, too, seem amused by or at least are prepared to indulge his sometimes outrageous lack of political correctness.

At various times he has spoken in unflattering or disparaging terms about homosexuals, religious Jews and women. "The best men will be pilots," he is quoted as saying, "and the best women will be for the pilots."