Chaim Herzog Chaim Herzog ( , 17 September 1918 – 17 April 1997 ) was an Irish - born Israeli politician , soldier , lawyer and author who served as the sixth President of Israel . Biography . Early life . Herzog was born at Cliftonpark Avenue in Belfast , the son of notable Rabbi Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog , who was Chief Rabbi of Ireland from 1919 to 1937 ( and later , of Palestine and Israel ) , and Sara ( née Hillman ) . The family home ( from 1919 ) was at 33 Bloomfield Avenue , Portobello in Dublin , Ireland . His father , a fluent speaker of the Irish language , was known as " " the Sinn Féin Rabbi " " for his support of the First Dáil and the Irish Republican cause , during the Irish War of Independence . Herzog studied at Wesley College , Dublin and was involved with the Federation of Zionist Youth during his teenage years . He immigrated to Palestine in 1935 , and served in the Jewish paramilitary group Haganah during the Arab revolt of 1936 – 39 . He went on to earn a degree in law at University College London , and then qualified as a barrister at Lincoln ' s Inn . He joined the British army during World War II , operating primarily in Germany as a tank commander in the Armoured Division . There , he was given his lifelong nickname of " Vivian " because the British could not pronounce the name , " Chaim " . A Jewish soldier had volunteered that " Vivian " was the English equivalent of " Chaim . " ( Living History , p . 47 ) He was commissioned into the Intelligence Corps in 1943 and participated in the liberation of several concentration camp s as well as identifying a captured German soldier as Heinrich Himmler . He left the Army in 1947 with the rank of Major . Military , legal and political career . Immediately following the war , he returned to Palestine . After the establishment of the State of Israel , he fought in the 1948 Arab - Israeli War , serving as an officer in the battles for Latrun . His intelligence experience during World War II was seen as a valuable asset , and he subsequently became head of the IDF Military Intelligence Branch , a position in which he served from 1948 to 1950 and again from 1959 to 1962 . From 1950 to 1954 , he served as defense attaché at the Israeli Embassy in the United States . He retired from the IDF in 1962 with the rank of Major - General . After leaving the army , Herzog opened a private law practice . He returned to public life in 1967 , when the Six - Day War broke out , as a military commentator for Kol Israel radio news . Following the capture of the West Bank , he was appointed Military Governor of East Jerusalem , and Judea and Samaria . In 1972 he went into partnership with Michael Fox and Yaakov Neeman , and established the law firm of Herzog , Fox & Neeman , one of the largest law firms in Israel . In 1975 Herzog was appointed Israel ' s Ambassador to the United Nations , in which capacity he served until 1978 . During his term the UN adopted the " Zionism is Racism " resolution ( General Assembly Resolution 3379 ) , which Herzog condemned and symbolically tore up ( as his father had done to one of the British white papers regarding the British Mandate in Palestine ) , saying : " For us , the Jewish people , this resolution based on hatred , falsehood and arrogance , is devoid of any moral or legal value . " In recent years British historians headed by Simon Sebag - Montefiore have included this speech in a book on speeches that changed the world , which includes others by Martin Luther King , Jr , Nelson Mandela , Winston Churchill and John F . Kennedy . In the 1981 elections Herzog entered politics for the first time , winning a seat in the Knesset as a member of the Alignment , the predecessor to the Labour Party . Presidency . On 22 March 1983 , Herzog was elected by the Knesset to serve as the sixth President of Israel , by a vote of 61 to 57 , against Menachem Elon , the candidate of the right and the government coalition . He assumed office on 5 May 1983 and served two five - year terms ( then the maximum permitted by Israeli basic law ) , retiring from political life in 1993 . As president of Israel , Herzog made a number of visits abroad , being the first Israeli president to make an official visit to Germany , as well as visiting several far - east countries , Australia , and New Zealand . He was also noted for pardoning the Shin Bet agent involved in the Kav 300 affair . In 1985 Herzog visited Wesley College Dublin during his State Visit to Ireland , during which he opened the Irish Jewish Museum in Dublin , Republic of Ireland . While on his visit to Ireland , he also unveiled in Sneem Culture Park , Co Kerry , a modern polished steel Israeli sculpture , in honour of his childhood friend , Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh , the fifth President of Ireland . Herzog was a hardened opponent of Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq during his presidency of Israel , he referred to Iraq as a nest " of world terror " . He said the world largely dismissed Israel ' s warnings that Baghdad was becoming a capital of world terrorism , adding that some Western countries helped Hussein develop into a military power . Herzog died on 17 April 1997 , and is buried on Mount Herzl , Jerusalem . Herzog controversially reduced the sentences of three imprisoned Jews , Menachem Livni , Uzi Sharbaf and Shaul Nir , members of the Jewish Underground , who were sentenced to life imprisonment in 1985 for the 1984 murder of four Palestinians in the West Bank town of Hebron . Herzog had reduced the sentences , first to 24 years , then to 15 years , and in 1989 he reduced the sentence to 10 years , which enabled the men to be released two years later on good behavior . Herzog was the brother - in - law of Abba Eban ; the men ' s wives were sisters . He had three children , including Isaac Herzog , former ( 2006 – 2011 ) Minister of Social Affairs , Minister of the Diaspora , and a Knesset Member for the Labor Party . In 2005 , he was voted the 115th - greatest Israeli of all time , in a poll by the Israeli news website " Ynet " to determine whom the general public considered the 200 Greatest Israelis . Published works . Herzog also authored several books on the historical events in which he was involved , including :