34 Facts About Avraham Tamir

Avraham Tamir, known as Abrasha or Avrasha Tamir, was an Israeli soldier and statesman.

Avraham Tamir was born on 9 November 1924 in Tel Aviv, Mandatory Palestine, as Avraham Treinin.

Avraham Tamir's father was Russian from Harbin, Manchuria, and left the Far East in 1913 when his father sent him to study medicine in Italy; instead of going to Italy he joined pioneers and settled in the Holy Land.

Avraham Tamir's brothers were the poet Avner Treinin and the Mapai legal counsel Ze'ev Treinin.

Avraham Tamir chose to Hebraize his name, inspired to do so by David Ben-Gurion, who encouraged members of the Israel Defense Forces to take Hebrew names.

Avraham Tamir was married to Varda Agron, daughter of Gershon Agron, and they had three children: daughters Michal and Daphna and son Gideon.

Actor and illustrator Chaim Topol, whom Avraham Tamir had recruited to work for the IDF planning branch, was the best man at their wedding.

Avraham Tamir joined the IDF upon its founding, serving in the 1948 Israel-Palestine war.

In World War II, Avraham Tamir signed up for the Jewish Brigade, fighting in Italy.

At the time of the Gush Etzion Convoys in 1947, Avraham Tamir was stationed in Gush Etzion as part of a squad leaders course.

Avraham Tamir held his first command there, in charge of a reprisal attack on Arabs following the Convoy of Ten.

Avraham Tamir was the last commander left defending Gush Etzion during the siege, as Moshe Silberschmidt's deputy, ultimately being captured by Jordanians of the Arab Legion.

Avraham Tamir was held as a prisoner of war until February 1949, when a prisoner exchange was arranged and the injured Tamir was taken with another Jewish soldier to the Hadassah Medical Center; the other soldier reported that Tamir was "elated all the way".

Avraham Tamir was given command of an infantry battalion following the foundation of Israel.

Avraham Tamir led the IDF Staff and Command College and is said to have personally written much of the training material for the IDF.

At the start of the Suez Crisis, Avraham Tamir was the operations chief in IDF Central Command.

In December 1973, Avraham Tamir was promoted from brigadier general to major general to head up the new planning division, which would assess and create strategy and doctrine.

When he was a colonel, in 1966, Avraham Tamir was approached by prime minister Levi Eshkol to help develop Israeli doctrine on nuclear weapons, which Eshkol himself dubbed the Samson Option.

Avraham Tamir said that two incentives for a nuclear program arose in these early discussions: "national insurance policy" and "national safety valve".

Avraham Tamir then helped to create the specific strategy and security branches.

In 1981, Avraham Tamir became the head of national security of the Ministry of Defense under Ariel Sharon.

Avraham Tamir ventured into political advising, becoming head of military planning during Menachem Begin's premiership.

Avraham Tamir helped create security policy and negotiate peace deals among nations; he was Weizman's senior aide at Camp David in 1978 for the Camp David Accords.

In effect, Avraham Tamir belonged to the third echelon of the constellation built up around the negotiations.

Avraham Tamir resigned from the military in April 1984; Moshe Arens, who became Defense Minister in 1983, had decided to reassign Avraham Tamir, prompting his decision to leave.

When Peres became Foreign Minister, Avraham Tamir became director-general of the Foreign Ministry, serving until 1988.

Peres and Avraham Tamir collaborated, but the nominations were "forced upon Peres" by Weizman, an ally after the integration of Yahad into Labor, and Avraham Tamir's political mentor.

In January 1985, Avraham Tamir created and led a committee on Arab Israeli affairs.

Weizman gave the responsibilities back to a larger advisor role, placing Joseph Ginat in it; Ginat, Yitzhak Reiter, and Avraham Tamir drafted a policy that would reach a compromise on loyalty and identity for Arab Israelis, particularly making military service voluntary.

Avraham Tamir long supported some form of an independent Palestinian state, and was "one of the first Israeli officials" to meet with Yasser Arafat.

Avraham Tamir was disappointed in the Oslo Accords and with Peres; he publicly supported Benjamin Netanyahu for election in 1996, but was disappointed in his process.

On 5 September 1978, while at Camp David with Jimmy Carter and the Israeli delegation, Avraham Tamir wore military decorations in a similar layout; the Aluf rank was worn on his epaulet, and the Decoration of State Warriors clasp was mounted on his War of Independence Ribbon.

Avraham Tamir died on 20 December 2010 in Tel Aviv.

Avraham Tamir had a military funeral the next day at Kiryat Shaul Cemetery, with an honor guard of six major generals.