CHAIM HERZOG, ISRAEL'S SIXTH PRESIDENT, DIES

ISRAEL LINE
Thursday, April 17, 1997


  Former President Chaim Herzog died this morning in Tel Aviv at the age of
79, Israel Radio, KOL YISRAEL, reported. President Ezer Weizman made the
official announcement of the death of Israel's sixth President today.
  Herzog was born in Ireland in 1918, the son of the Chief Rabbi of
Ireland's Jewish community. He emigrated with his family to Israel in 1935,
and enrolled in the Hebron Yeshiva. A year later, his father was elected
Chief Rabbi of the Land of Israel.
  When World War II began, he volunteered in the British Army, where he
served in various positions until the end of the war.
  In 1946, he returned to Israel and joined the Haganah, the Jewish
underground. He later became head of the Jewish Agency's security branch.
  After the establishment of the State of Israel, Herzog held many positions
in national security agencies, including a stint as the head of the IDF
Intelligence Branch. During the Six-Day War, he offered his services as a
military commentator to KOL YISRAEL, where his broadcasts helped to hearten
Israelis before and during the fighting.
 Herzog was appointed Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations in 1975,
where he led the campaign against the U.N. resolution that equated Zionism
with racism.
  In 1981, he was elected to the Knesset as a member of the Labor Party, and
in 1983, he was elected to his first term as the President of the State of
Israel. In 1988 he was elected for his second term, eventually serving as
President for 10 years.
  The funeral procession is scheduled to start tomorrow at 12:00 noon in
Jerusalem.





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