Amnon Lipkin-Shahak

Biography Lipkin-Shahak was the great-grandson of Yitzhak Lipkin, an early pioneer to Palestine and businessman who financed the construction of the Ohel Shlomo and Shaarei Yerushalayim courtyard neighborhoods on Jaffa Road in Jerusalem at the end of the 19th century. Lipkin-Shahak, born in Tel Aviv, was the third son of Zvi and Sarah, and brother to Yaacov and Tamar. He was married to journalist Tali Lipkin-Shahak and had five children.

In 1994, while serving as Deputy Chief of Staff, he said in an interview that four years earlier he was diagnosed with leukemia, but had since recovered. When it was discovered he had been serving as Director of Military Intelligence, and while battling it, then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin allowed him to travel abroad for medical consultations. in 1962, he enlisted in the Paratroopers Brigade, and served as soldier and an infantry officer in the 890 battalion of the brigade. In 1965, he became a company commander in the newly established 202nd battalion of the brigade. As a company commander, he participated in reprisal operations preceding the Six-Day War. During the war, he served as acting deputy battalion commander. After the war, he took command of the Duchifat unit (Sayeret) of the brigade and participated in Operation Inferno, where he was awarded the Medal of Courage for "his leadership and courage under fire." During the Yom Kippur War, he served as deputy commander of the Paratroopers Brigade and fought in the Battle of the Chinese Farm, contained Egyptian forces at Ismailia, and defended the Sinai desert. After the war, he was assigned as the operations officer for Central Command, and was sent to the U.S. Marine's general staff command course in the United States.

On 6 March 2001, the New Way faction, which included Lipkin-Shahak, split off from the Center Party. On 8 March, he resigned from the Knesset.