EZER WEITZMAN

We've only had 7 presidents since the country was established, and the presidency doesn't exactly come with powers like in the US, but, for the most part, we love and respect our Presidents, and want to see them get the honor they deserve. Ezer Weitzman, was perhaps our most controversial President, while at the same time the best loved. He died last evening at the age of 81 after a full and meaningful life. He was the man who was most responsible for making our Air Force one of the best in the world and the architect of it's success in 1976. After leaving the Air Force as it's commanding officer and joining Menachem Begin in Herut, (today's Likud) he left Begin's government for ideological reasons, and moved to the left. He started in the Irgun or Etzel (my memory fails and I'm too lazy to go looking right now) and moved leftward over the years. He met with Arafart when it was still very much against the law to meet with anyone from the PLO. While he was president he made it a point to visit all the families whose soldiers were killed while in service, and made it a point after leaving the presidency to visit every single family of the soldiers killed in the helicopter crash, over 70 different families. He often said somewhat odd and seemlingly inappropriate things in public, yet was admired by most. I met him once quite by accident when he was at one of the local shopping malls. I had no idea he was even in the area, and blithely rolled into the mall, only to be stopped in my tracks by Naomi Porat who was with Mr. Weitzman and his wife. Naomi introduced me to them and we chatted for a minute or two. Their warmth and caring were impossible to miss and Reuma was interested in how I ended up in a wheelchair and asked how I was getting along here. Naomi said she'd tell more about me later and that I'm one of the area's better known activists and a fervent Zionist. I left the encounter in awe of those two people who had done so much for the country, and feeling very fortunate to have met them.
One thing which greatly displeases me is that the Egyptian President, who also supposedly admired him didn't tell Vladimir Putin who will be visiting him in Egypt on the day of funeral that, he, Mubarek, is going to the funeral and that Vlad is welcome to share his plane/helo/whatever. As things stand now, neither are coming and that puts the two of them down at gutter level in my eyes. The one thing I do not to see is any statement of condolence from either of them.
As a country we will miss Ezer Weitzman. Very few, if any, have done more for the country than he did.