Long-time ardent Zionist Jim Bennett, 73, has passed away at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa after a long illness.
The father of Education Minister and Bayit Yehudi party chairman Naftali Bennett immigrated to Israel on aliyah after the 1967 Six Day War.
Bennett was born in the United States in 1941, and after marrying his wife Myrna the couple came to volunteer on Kibbutz Dafna in northern Israel after the war.
They fell in love with the country, completing their immigration and settling in Haifa. Bennett fought in the artillery division in the Yom Kippur War, and in the War of Peace For Galilee. He worked at the Technion Institute of Technology, and the Jewish Agency, and then established his own business.
“Jim Bennett was a Zionist in every fiber of his soul, who loved his people and his family,” said a spokesperson for the Education Ministry.
He is survived by his wife, three sons and 10 grandchildren. Information about the funeral will be provided later in the day.
Baruch Dayan HoEmes.