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Yossi Beilin served as Israel's Minister of Justice from July 1999 to March 2001. His lengthy career of public service, beginning in 1984 with his appointment as Cabinet Secretary, makes him one of the most experienced Labor Party politicians. A member of Knesset for eleven years, Dr. Beilin has held ministerial positions in the governments of Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres and Ehud Barak. In these various roles - which have included Deputy Foreign Minister, Deputy Finance Minister, Minister of Economy and Planning, Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, and Minister of Justice - Dr. Beilin has proven himself a unique type of politician. Yossi Beilin is a leading proponent of the peace process with Israel's neighbors and especially the Palestinians, identifying Israels national interest as being best served by achieving a fair, just, and comprehensive peace in the region. He initiated the secret channel of talks that resulted in the 1993 Oslo Accords, and subsequently in late 1995 concluded a "non-paper" of guidelines for a permanent status peace agreement with Palestinian leader Abu Mazen. Dr. Beilin headed the Israeli delegation to the Multilateral peace process working groups from 1992-95 and was a negotiator at the Taba talks with the Palestinians in January 2001. He created and led the public movement in Israel for a unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon. In July of 2001 Yossi Beilin led a group of Israeli intellectuals and academics in signing a Joint Declaration with Palestinian peers, headed by Minister Abd Rabbo, the first and only action of its kind since the start of the current crisis. Dr. Beilin also serves as Israel's foremost thinker on issues of Jewish continuity and relations between Israel and Diaspora Jewry. He was an innovator of the "Birthright" program, which in its first year brought almost 6,000 young Jews to Israel. Other recent initiatives include successfully sponsoring legislation to guarantee equal representation for the Israeli Arab minority in the public administration, Government-owned companies, and public authorities. Yossi Beilin worked as a journalist, and taught political science at Tel Aviv University, where he received his doctorate. He is the author of several books, including Israel: A Concise Political History, Touching Peace, The Manual for Leaving Lebanon, His Brother's Keeper, and Manual for a Wounded Dove. |
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