18 Facts About Elazar Stern

Elazar Stern is an Israeli politician and military general.

Elazar Stern has served as a Member of Knesset for eight years, first, as a member of the Hatnuah party, and then in 2015 he joined the Yesh Atid, and served as the Minister of Intelligence between 2021 and 2022.

Elazar Stern holds a bachelor's degree in Land of Israel studies and economics from Bar-Ilan University, an Executive Master of Business Administration from the Kellogg-Recanati International program of Tel Aviv and Northwestern Universities, and a master's degree in Strategic Resource Management from the National Defense University in Washington, DC.

Elazar Stern has served as an MK since the Nineteenth Knesset and has been a member of the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee; the Finance Committee; and the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

Elazar Stern spearheaded parliamentary efforts to address issues of religion and state and the Jewish and democratic discourse in the Knesset.

Elazar Stern chaired the Religion and State Caucus, the Caucus for Ethiopian Immigrant Soldiers, and the Parliamentary Caucus for Holocaust Survivors, through which he fought to expand the resources provided to Holocaust survivors in Israel.

Elazar Stern chaired the Caucus for the Promotion of Israeli Music.

Elazar Stern spearheaded the approval of the government resolution regarding the reform of the conversion system in Israel, which eased the conversion process by establishing tribunals headed by city rabbis.

Elazar Stern was a prominent member of the Committee for Equal Sharing of the Burden along with the Yesh Atid parliamentary group, in which he fought to extend the military service of soldiers from Hesder Yeshivas.

In June 2021, Elazar Stern was appointed Minister of Intelligence in the new government.

In 1974, Elazar Stern enlisted in the IDF and served with the Paratroopers Brigade, where he held a series of command positions, including battalion commander.

Elazar Stern took part in various raids against terrorist camps in Lebanon, and served as a Company commander in the 890 "Efe" paratroop company.

Elazar Stern fought in the 1982 Lebanon War, and later on commanded Paratroopers Brigade's training base and the 202 paratroop battalion in South Lebanon.

Several years later, Elazar Stern re-enlisted in the IDF for career service and continued to fill command positions in the field units; deputy commander of a territorial brigade on the northern border, brigade commander, commander of the IDF Officers Training School, and commander of an armored division.

Elazar Stern initiated and established the Nativ conversion project, through which more than 12,000 people mainly from the former Soviet Union have converted; he promoted and fostered the absorption of immigrants in the IDF; he strengthened the IDF's ties with Diaspora Jewry; and he set up the Machtzavim program for the development of Jewish and democratic educational leadership skills among senior IDF officers and members of the various security services.

Elazar Stern formulated and oversaw the Edim b'Madim project which sends IDF soldiers to Poland to witness the concentration camps firsthand, the program is active and tens of thousands of officers have participated including army veterans and bereaved families.

In 2009, Elazar Stern was released from the IDF and published a book that was later translated into English as Struggling over Israel's Soul: An IDF General Speaks of His Controversial Moral Decisions.

From 2010 until his entry into the Knesset in 2012, Elazar Stern served as the volunteer chairman of the Foundation for the Benefit of Holocaust Victims in Israel, chaired the Ethiopian National Project from 2012, and was a member of the board of directors of the Habima Theatre.