Mordechai Tzipori (Hebrew: מרדכי צפורי), born Mordechai Hankovich-Hendin on September 15, 1924 — died May 29, 2017 — was an Israeli military officer who later served as a politician with the Likud movement.
Early life and underground activity
Tzipori was born in Petah Tikva in what was then Mandatory Palestine. As a youth he joined the Irgun in 1939. Toward the end of the British mandate his underground activities led to his arrest; from 1945 until 1948 British authorities interned him in detention camps in Africa.
Military career
After his release, Tzipori enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces in 1948. He received officer training and pursued further studies at Tel Aviv University. During the 1960s he commanded an armoured battalion and later directed the army’s armor training school. In 1971 he was appointed deputy commander of the Armor Corps; in 1973 he served as a commander in the Command and Staff framework, and in 1974 he became deputy head of operations on the General Staff. He left active service in 1976 with the rank of lieutenant general.
Political career
Tzipori entered parliamentary politics when he was elected to the Knesset in 1977. He was appointed deputy minister of defense and held that post through Begin’s first and second cabinets (1977–1981). From 1981 until 1984 he served as Minister of Communications under the latter Begin government and the first Shamir administration. He retired from political office in 1984.
Later roles and death
Following his departure from the Knesset, Tzipori took on leadership of the National Insurance Institution. He died at a medical center in Ramat Gan, Israel, on May 29, 2017, at the age of 92.