---
born: 1924-06-15
category: Intelligence & Government
died: 2005-04-24
location: Tel Aviv, Mandatory Palestine
summary: Israeli Defense Minister under Begin who negotiated the SIMWA wartime alliance
  with South Africa and later became President of Israel.
tags:
- Person
- CIA
- Politician
- Israel
- Military
---

[Ezer Weizman](/people/ezer-weizman/) was an [Israeli](/places/israel/) politician and military leader. He served as Defense Minister under [Menachem Begin](/people/menachem-begin/) and later became President of [Israel](/places/israel/).[^1]

[Weizman](/people/ezer-weizman/) urged [Begin](/people/menachem-begin/) to sign the [Camp David Accords](/events/camp-david-summit/), which [Begin](/people/menachem-begin/) reluctantly did under pressure from [Carter](/people/jimmy-carter/). In 1978, [Begin](/people/menachem-begin/) dispatched [Weizman](/people/ezer-weizman/) to Pretoria to meet [Prime Minister P.W. Botha](/people/pw-botha/) of [South Africa](/places/south-africa/) to discuss [Israeli](/places/israel/)-[South African](/places/south-africa/) relations. Despite [Begin's](/people/menachem-begin/) intentions to downgrade the relationship, [Weizman](/people/ezer-weizman/) agreed with [Botha](/people/pw-botha/) on a wartime alliance between the two governments as the price for continuing nuclear tests. This led to the creation of [SIMWA](/misc/simwa/) (SADF-IDF Mutual Wartime Agreement).[^1]

[^1]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network*. TrineDay, 1992.