12 Facts About Omer Bar-Lev

Omer Israel Bar-Lev is an Israeli politician who formerly served as Minister of Public Security.

Omer Bar-Lev was previously a member of the Knesset for the Israeli Labor Party.

Omer Bar-Lev was placed seventh on the party's list for the 2013 Israeli legislative election, and serves as the Party's point person on issues of peace and defense.

Omer Bar-Lev was born in Haifa, Israel to an Ashkenazi Jewish family with origins from Austria.

Omer Bar-Lev's father is former IDF Chief of Staff and government minister Haim Bar-Lev.

Omer Bar-Lev is married again to Tami, a video editor, and father of three children.

Omer Bar-Lev was drafted in 1971 and went on to command Israel's most elite special forces unit Sayeret Matkal and later the Jordan Valley Brigade.

Omer Bar-Lev joined a group of reserve soldiers who, in 1978, wrote a letter to Prime Minister Menachem Begin urging him to sign a peace deal with Egypt.

In 2012, Omer Bar-Lev decided to run for Knesset with the Israeli Labor Party, and was chosen as the number seven on its candidates list.

Omer Bar-Lev serves as a member on the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, a member of the Ad-hoc Committee for the "Equal Sharing of the Burden" Bill, chair of the Lobby for Advancement of Youth on the Periphery, chair of the Lobby for the Promotion of the Needs of the Bedouin Population, and co-chair of the Agricultural Lobby.

In 2013, Omer Bar-Lev published "It's in Our Hands", a political initiative with proposals for both bilateral and independent moves that Israel should take to maintain its democratic and Jewish character.

Omer Bar-Lev was criticized for omitting that the victim was killed due to her Jewish faith.